Rovio, the creator of the popular Angry Birds mobile game, has raised USD 42 million in a Series A round of financing. The funding round was co-led by Accel Partners, the venture capital firm known for working with companies including Facebook, Groupon and AdMob, and Atomico Ventures, the venture capital firm created by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom. Super angel fund Felicis Ventures also participated. Zennstrom will be joining the Rovio board. Rovio said it will use the money to expand the Anrgy Birds "entertainment franchise", including new geographic markets and more merchandising and media production partnerships such as the recent special movie versions of the game. Currently, Angry Birds is played by 40 million monthly active users, while Rovio has also sold over 2 million Angry Birds plush toys. The company plans to expand Angry Birds to more gaming platforms and forms of media this year. Based in Finland, Rovio employs 50 people.
