Outblaze Ventures, one of the world's leading mobile application developers and publishers, plans to expand on the mainland after obtaining an undisclosed amount of new funding from venture capital firms Intel Capital and IDG Accel.
The privately held Hong Kong company, more widely known by its brand name, Animoca, expects to double the size of its 70-member application development team by early next year to meet growing consumer demand worldwide for applications used on smartphones and in social media networks.
Founder Yat Siu, who also established namesake internet company Outblaze in Hong Kong in 1998, said Animoca had released more than 200 applications that generated millions of dollars in revenue globally.
'We have a significant business and it is growing rapidly,' said Siu, referring to the mobile applications firm he founded in January this year.
He said Animoca needed to set up additional facilities to develop more applications, but was struggling to find such a space in Hong Kong. That is why the company needed to expand on the mainland, one of its largest markets in terms of application downloads and a vast source of talented developers.
'Our heart and soul is in Hong Kong, but demand is there in the mainland,' Siu said.