Social mobile games specialist Pocket Gems has secured $5 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital.

The investment is set to fund the publisher's expansion, with the company – which started out as Street View Labs – claiming it plans to add to its engineering team in the coming months.

Tapping up the charts

Pocket Gems launched its first title – free release Tap Farm – in 2009, with four other releases having all hit the top ten free apps list on the App Store in its wake.

The company claims its portfolio, including titles such as Tap Store and Tap Jungle, has enabled it to generate million of dollars in revenue from virtual goods, with Tap Zoo consistently ranking as one of the top grossing apps on the marketplace since it launched in September.

In total, its games have been downloaded over 15 million times.

"The App Store ecosystem has democratised mobile game development," said Pocket Gems' CEO and co-founder Daniel Terry.

"It gave us an opportunity to build a new type of mobile experience and put it in front of millions of people. With so many developers turning to this platform, the space is evolving very quickly, and we're excited to be part of defining what the next generation of entertainment will look like."

Social surge

Sequoia, which has previously invested in brands such as Apple, EA, Google and Nvidia, was joined in the round by AdMob founder Omar Hamoui, Jeff Fluhr – CEO of telecommunications firm StubHub, and former eBay man Michael Dearing.

As a result of the deal, Sequoia partner Jim Goetz is set to join Pocket Gem's board, with Goetz claiming the studio's social gaming prestige stands it in good stead to make the most of the app market on iPhone and Android in the coming years.

[source: Pocket Gems]