Wild Needle Raises $2.5M For Mobile Social Games

Wild Needle, a Palo Alto-based social mobile gaming startup currently in "super sneaky stealth mode", has raised $2.5 million in a Series A round of funding expected to reach $3 million. The developer set up shop some time in 2010 and comprises a small group of entrepreneurs who have had experience at companies like Microsoft, PayPal, advertising network platform Adify, and social game developer Playdom/Disney. A recent SEC filing posted by TechCrunch reveals two Wild Needle executives, Playdom co-founder and chairman Rick Thompson and Adify Platform Solutions VP Heidi Carson. Shasta Ventures' co-founder Robert Coneybeer is also listed as director, implying his VC firm participated in and possibly led the financing round. Though the developer hasn't revealed much about its plans, it claims to have "great ideas for the next generation of social games for mobile devices", promising to "stretch the boundaries of the mobile game experience farther than it's ever gone before." Wild Needle vaguely contemplates on its site, "... a mobile device is so much more than a portable game player. What if mobile games were thoughtful, immersive, and filled with unexpected delight? What if they made you laugh out loud?"