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Location-based mobile game company Scvngr Inc. got a Christmas present from investors. The South Boston-based company closed on $4 million in new funding, according to a Dec. 24 filing with the federal government and confirmed by Scvngr founder and “chief ninja” Seth Priebatsch.
Google Ventures joined previous backer Highland Capital Partners, which was involved in Scvngr’s only previous venture round that brought in $825,000 in December of last year. Rich Miner from Google Ventures has been added to the Scvngr board in conjunction with the funding, joining Peter Bell from Highland.
“The most exciting thing for us is that Rich Miner will be joining the board,” said Priebatsch. “He is one of the coolest people I have ever met on a personal level and one of the most talented people I have ever met on a professional level. He is like Peter Bell in that respect. Now we have a total rock star from the sales and business perspective and a rock star from the tech and mobile perspective.”
Scvngr makes technology that allows for clients to deploy text-message and smart phone application-based scavenger hunts and interactive tours, a category of location-based services the company has tagged “geo-gaming.” With Miner’s background in Google’s mobile development, Scvngr is sitting pretty for next year, Priebatsch said.
“Obviously Rich’s connection to Android is very cool,” he said. “It opens up a lot of doors for us. It increases the chances of success to a tremendous degree.”
On Oct. 9, Scvngr and Highland held a citywide scavenger hunt called the Quest for Innovation that took people around Boston on a tour of its history of innovation and raised money for a handful of entrepreneurial-focused nonprofits in the region.
Earlier this month, Priebatsch said the company will be doubling in size from 20 to 40 employees in the next two months, so he held an open house to being in potential new staffers. At the time, Priebatsch said he anticipated the company would make $1 million in revenue in its first full year of operation, 2009.
“We totally pwned that,” Priebatsch said. “We are now well, well above it.”
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