MMO Dev Monumental Secures $3.2 Million

Nottingham-headquartered MMO developer Monumental Games announced that it secured £2 million ($3.22 million), which it will use to further develop its technology, its team's skills, and its relationships with publishers. The company has Maven Capital Partners, joint manager of the Capital for Enterprise (CfE) fund, to thank for this new funding. Founded in 2005, Monumental develops console titles like MotoGP 09 and 10 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but it mostly works on PC MMOs such as CyberSports' free-to-play Football Superstars and its self-published hunting game Hunter's World. The developer employs more than 100 staff members across three studios in Nottingham; Manchester; and Pune, India. The CfE Fund is a £75 million ($120.9 million) government initiative launched earlier this year to offer financial support to small- and medium-size UK businesses by helping bridge funding gaps caused by the credit crisis. Maven Capital noted that it was impressed when reviewing Monumental's accomplishments, as it managed to grow to its current size without any third-party equity or debt funding. "This investment is a major milestone in the evolution of Monumental Games, and a vindication of our decision to focus on this market space," said Monumental's CEO Rik Alexander. "We will use this capital to develop our technology to better serve our teams, develop our skills and further cement our relationships with our publishing partners. It gives us the opportunity to consolidate our growth to date and to pursue some exciting opportunities moving forward."