US mobile sports game developer Nifty Games has closed a Series B funding round raising $26 million.

The funding round was led by Vulcan Capital (Wildilife Studios, Epic, Magic Leap) and included March Gaming, Defy Partners, Courtside Ventures, and Woori Capital, among others.

In addition, the company has secured $12 million in connected debt financing.

Based in California, Nifty Games’ is behind the development of officially licensed mobile sports games such as premier title NFL Clash and upcoming title NBA Clash.

Following the recent funding round, the company’s overall raised capital to date has reached over $50 million. Nifty Games secured $3 million in seed funding followed by a Series A funding round that closed at $12 million.

Nifty will use the investment to expand its sports games portfolio and recruit "top-tier" development staff to work on future projects.

"Incredible commercial opportunity"

"With Nifty Games Series B, we’ve been fortunate to add further investments from partners that are true supporters with each believing in our team and the larger opportunity ahead," said Nifty Games CEO Jon Middleton.

"We’ve purpose-built Nifty Games to deliver a new slate of sports games for mobile gamers worldwide. We’re proud of the team we’ve assembled, our incredible partnerships with the NFL, NFLPA, NBA, and the NBPA, as well as our family of financial backers committed to seeing Nifty Games win big. We’re excited to grow Nifty Games as NFL Clash and NBA Clash lead the way!"

Vulcan Capital partner YB Choi added: "We see an incredible commercial opportunity in bringing premium sports games to casual mobile game fans, in which they get to build a roster with favourite pro players and call the shots as their team competes all season long."

In early July, Nifty Games recruited three industry veterans to its executive team, including Jason Covey, ahead of the US release of NFL Clash.