Outspark secures $11 million in funding

Outspark, a new publisher and operator of free online community games, announced it has secured up to USD 11 million in Series B financing.

Existing investors DCM and Altos Ventures participated in the round and were joined by new investor Tencent, the operator of China's top Internet portal and instant messaging service.

"It's an exciting time for the online gaming industry as it quickly becomes mainstream entertainment," said Outspark founder and CEO Susan Choe.

"At Outspark, our vision of providing an engaging virtual playground is gaining serious recognition from the gaming community. We look forward to providing even more interactive online entertainment for our rapidly growing audience."

Outspark plans to use the additional funding for growth, expansion and the enhancement of its current offerings. The company's popular virtual playground has already attracted more than 1 million registered users in less than five months.

"Online gaming has become one of the most important new cultural phenomena in Asia, and we believe that PC-based online games will find a huge market here in North America as well," said David Wallerstein, Tencent's international senior executive VP.

"Outspark is off to a great start in building a strong user community with its titles."