MinoMonsters is a mobile social game that lets players explore a world of bite-sized, furry monsters, take them on quests and battle friends. The company launched in early 2011 and initially emphasized quests before refocusing its gameplay on one-on-one battles. Its iOS app has 2.5 million downloads (adding 1 million players since the end of September) and recently ranked among the top 50 grossing apps in Apple’s App Store. Revenue has surged recently — doubling in the past week and increasing roughly 1,000% since December — and the founder says revenue is now “in the millions.” The startup has pared back staff after its v2.0 overhaul and acquired a small HTML5 game design firm to beef up its monster battles on iOS. MinoMonsters is pursuing an entertainment strategy, planning animated shorts, TV/film deals, and consumer products to extend the brand beyond gaming. MinoMonsters Inc. is a San Francisco, CA–based videogame developer focused on emotionally engaging mobile games, led by CEO Joshua Buckley. Its flagship title, MinoMonsters, is a cinematic monster-battle and trading game for iPhone/iPod Touch featuring Disney-like animation and short, social gameplay sequences. The company designs gameplay to let players capture, gain the trust of monsters, and battle and trade with friends via iPhone, emphasizing easy connection and sharing. In 2011 MinoMonsters raised $1 million from a group of investors and used the funding to open offices in San Francisco and expand its team. TJ Murphy, former product manager at Zynga, joined as co-founder and president to lead the game's development and the company's technology strategy. The funding is intended to complete development of the flagship iOS title and position the company for growth in the mobile games market.

Total raised

$3M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Apr 2013