Red Robot Labs raises $8.5 million in funding

Mobile gaming start-up Red Robot Labs has raised $8.5 million in series A funding.

The round was led by Benchmark Capital, which will also add former EA and JAMDAT executive Mitch Lasky to Red Robot's board of directors.

Shasta Ventures also contributed, and two existing investors offered additional funding: Rick Thompson, co-founder of Playdom, and Chamath Palihapitiya, a former executive at Facebook.

"The team at Red Robot has created the most compelling combination we have seen of innovative game play and location-based social applications," Lasky said in a statement. "We are extremely excited to invest in what we believe to be a huge market opportunity for location-based mobile gaming."

Red Robot Labs was founded earlier this year, and launched its first, location-based game, Life Is Crime, at PAX last month. The funding will help to accelerate the company's growth, and aid development of its R2 location gaming platform.

"We recognised the enormous opportunity presented by location gameplay on mobile devices -- location games are very sticky," said Red Robot CEO Mike Ouye. "We've developed a significant game and platform strategy that appeals to both core gamers and casual audiences seeking a high quality social gaming experience built around their daily routines.