Axón Capital, a capital risk management company, has announced their investment of the Axón I fund in Virgin PLAY S.A, a Spanish videogame publisher which produces games for the Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox360, Nintendo and PC. This investment is in addition to the funds of private investors including the Japanese company Amuse Capital Inc, headed by Hayao Nakayma and the capital risk fund Spinnaker, all committed to Virgin PLAY’s expansion.
Virgin PLAY was founded by Tim Chaney and Francisco Encinas, two well-known veterans in the European videogame industry with an initial focus on promoting Spanish videogame talent on a global level. Since those times, it develops products in the UK, Canada, France, Hungary and South Africa. The company currently has operating offices in Madrid, London, Lisbon and a representative office in Tokyo and a growing catalogue of owned IP’s and world famous brand licensed products.

The funds from Axón Capital will give the extra push necessary for the company to succeed in its ambitious plans of development and expansion of new game concepts and their subsequent international distribution taking advantage of the demands of a continu-ingly growing industry and the new opportunities and company valuations that arise as a result.
In a related transaction, Virgin PLAY acquired an equity interest in Spanish developer Enigma Productions, of whom Axon Capital, acquired a stake in 2007.

Francisco Velázquez de Cuéllar, Chairman of Axón Capital stated, “We continue to bet on the digital Entertainment sector with Virgin Play and at the same time exploit the synergies created with our participation in Enigma. We believe that Virgin PLAY has great potential and that it comes with a solid infrastructure to take advantage of the growing tendencies of the market and consequently, achieve the consolidation that we’re expecting the sector to produce”.

Tim Chaney, Virgin PLAY President said, “The Axon Capital investment comes at a piv-otal point in our fast-track evolution from Iberian territory distributor to worldwide videogame publisher. It provides a fifth acceleration gear both in terms of short -term funding and strategic contribution from key individuals with acute knowledge and track records of building businesses in the media sector and beyond”.