Pretty Simple Raises $3.6 Million from IDInvest Partners

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May 19, 2011, 09:07 ET

PARIS, May 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Founded in January 2010 by Bastien Cazenave and Corentin Raux, two avid social gamers, Pretty Simple develops and deploys original gaming designs on Facebook. Six months after the launch of their first game, "My Shops," had an audience of almost 2 million players a month, making the company one of the leaders in the European market.

Pretty Simple is now announcing an initial funding of 3.6 million from IDInvest Partners, in order to increase the size of its team and boost production capacity.

IDInvest had already shown interest in the team by providing seed financing a year ago.

Pretty Simple plans to gain a foothold in a booming market by recruiting and training the best experts in the field. "Social gaming didn't exist 4 years ago; it's a job that straddles the Internet and video games. There are still many things that haven't been invented yet. We hope to create a solid team that knows how to innovate while working within the constraints and best practices of Facebook's platform. From our point of view, having a good team is the key to Pretty Simple's success," explains Corentin Raux, co-founder of Pretty Simple.

"Gaming and Facebook applications are a part of our strategic investment choices. Pretty Simple is known as one of the best French teams on Facebook. They particularly focus on the editorial quality of their games," says Guillaume Lautour of IDInvest Partners, who is already an investor in Kobojo and eRepublik.

Pretty Simple has around 15 employees and is looking to expand to 25 by the end of the year. At the same time, a second game will be launched with a theme that will be a first for the team. Bastien Cazenave says "Our goal is to show that there is room for products that set themselves apart. The audience on Facebook is very fickle; you have to know how to surprise players and give them a profound gaming experience in order to gain their loyalty. Our games are based on many others on Facebook that we like, but we try to put our own stamp on it with humor, challenges and surprises!"

Before founding Pretty Simple, Bastien Cazenave and Corentin Raux developed several games on Facebook, and are credited with starting the wave of "treasure hunting" games with a game that pioneered the genre, breaking the 1 million players/day mark in 2009.

About Pretty Simple

Based in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, Pretty Simple was founded in January 2010 by Bastien Cazenave and Corentin Raux to develop and publish online games. The company currently has fifteen employees.

Website: http://www.prettysimplegames.com

About IDInvest Partners (now called AGF Private Equity)

With EUR2.8 billion in managed assets (EUR750 million of which is in venture capital), IDInvest Partners is one of today's leaders in investment capital in Europe. IDInvest Partners is currently a major investor in more than 80 companies, including Meetic, Dailymotion, Deezer, Viadeo and Criteo. IDInvest Partners makes regular capital investments of over 50 million a year in Europe.

Website: http://www.idinvest-partners.com/

SOURCE Pretty Simple