RockYou Raises Another $17 Million In Funding From Softbank >> Widgets Lab

One of the powerhouses of the Widgets space is RockYou, the people who brought to you Slideshows, PhotoFX and what not, has announced that it has successfully raised another $17Million in Funding from Softbank. This puts RockYou's total funding to date to close to 81.82Mn USD (unverified), surpassing close rival Slide Inc's 58Mn USD to date. Investors this round includes lead investors Softbank and SK Telecom Ventures. The Asian heritage of the 2 investors somehow hints at RockYou's determination to slug it out in the East Asian battlefield. (Widget Labs Report Here.)

This report comes just a month after Valleywag quoted RockYou CEO Lance Tokuda as aiming to make RockYou “the Electronic Arts of Social Networks and build games for Social Networks” . RockYou put their money where their mouth is by acquiring Speed Racing, one of Facebook's favorite game widgets. This bold step to diversify RockYou's offerings, promises to slowly ease off the stifling rivalry between Slide Inc and RockYou, as they each venture off into separate pastures. (Slide aims to be a more integrated Online Entertainment offering)
(Related reports: WidgetLab >> RockYou wants to be a Social Network Game Widget Powerhouse &
Valleywag >> RockYou diving deeper into Social Games)

I've summarised a head to head comparison of Slide Inc. and RockYou.


Source: VentureXpert, Kitchen Report