Dan Pearson Thursday 10th March 2011 Share this article Share

Companies in this article Rovio Mobile Ltd

Angry Birds Creator Rovio has secured $42 million in a surprise funding round, lead by Accel Partners.

Fortune.com senior editor Dan Primack tweeted a message announcing the funding shortly before entering an interview with an unnamed Rovio executive, sparking a wave of stories on business and gaming sites.

Since then, Rovio has confirmed the rumour, and also announced that it has named Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstroem to its board. Atomico Ventures, Zennstroem's investment company, co-lead the funding.

"This investment will give Rovio wings," Zennstroem said. "Angry Birds is one of the fastest-growing online products I've seen, growing even faster than Skype, and the company has done a brilliant job of extending it across different platforms and merchandise."

"Angry Birds will continue to grow and we aim to create more similar success stories," said Rovio CEO Mikael Hed.

Just yesterday Rovio revealed that Angry Birds had cost just $140,000 to make, but had generated $70 million from various revenue streams, including over $2 million from the sale of plush toys.

A film deal with Fox is also currently in the works, which funded the Angry Birds advertisement during the recent Super Bowl.