UK start-up Mojiworks has raised £2.1 million ($2.75 million) to develop games for messaging platforms.

The Guildford-based studio aims to use the money to launch multiple games and expand its team from 10 to 25 staff over the next 12 months.

Mojiworks has already released iMessage titles Moji Quest and Moji Bowling, which have together generated 1.5 million downloads.

It’s now gearing up to released multiplayer adventure title QuestFriends for Facebook Instant Games this year.

Big backers

The Series A funding round was led by Balderton Capital as well as Lifeline Ventures and Sunstone Capital.

The investors have previously supported successful developers such as Wooga, Supercell and Seriously.

“Since starting Mojiworks just 12 months ago, we’ve built a great core team and several proof-of-concept projects that excelled our goals many times over,” said Mojiworks CEO Matthew Wiggins.

“It has confirmed our belief that messaging will be the next huge games opportunity. I’m tremendously pleased that, with Balderton’s involvement and continued support from Lifeline and Sunstone, we have a tight team of investors and advisors with a history of building companies that become market leaders through product innovation and cultural excellence.

“This investment will help drive our growth from pioneers in an emerging space to a leading force on the next platform where billions of people will play together.”

We spoke to Mojiworks CEO Matthew Wiggins earlier this year about his plans for the studio and why he's going all in on games for chat apps.