HardwareIndustryPC
Razer secures US$50M in first round of venture capital funding‏
Hassan Mujtaba • Dec 21, 2011 09:11 PM EST
Razer, the world leader in high performance gaming hardware, today announced it has secured a US$50 million round led by IDG-Accel China Capital Fund ("IDG-Accel"), one of the leading global investment funds in the world with IDG and Accel Partners as its strategic partners.
The minority investment by IDG-Accel is the first-ever round of venture capital raised by Razer. Funding to date has been contributed by angel investors as well as through Razer's global operations.
"We took a long time raising our first VC round as games like Battlefield 3 kept us pretty busy recently," said Min-Liang Tan, co-founder and CEO of Razer. "More importantly, we took our time selecting an institutional investor as we wanted to find a partner that understood our commitment to gaming and our no-compromise attitude to designing products. Plus these guys didn't freak out when we disappeared for a week in the middle of the deal when Skyrim launched."
Razer has built a cult brand around its products and designs with millions of fans worldwide. The company is not just one of the largest gaming hardware brands in the US and Europe but has also been recently ranked as one of the top technology brands in China with strategic partnerships with the largest Chinese gaming companies like Tencent, Shanda, Changyou and Perfect World.
"Given our global reach, we wanted an institutional partner who didn't just provide funding but could also help us scale. IDG-Accel is a global fund and their relationships in the US and China will definitely be complementary for our worldwide businesses," continued Min-Liang Tan. "We've been having fun and kicking ass while being funded by our internal operations these couple of years – now imagine the kind of badass products we'll be designing with the resources that IDG-Accel will bring to the table. I just hope that IDG-Accel is aware that our board meetings generally start with a game of Counterstrike and the losers have to buy coffee."
Razer intends to use the funds to invest in technology, expand and innovate on its portfolio of designs and to pay for the video gaming habits of the management and staff, though not necessarily in that order.
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