Aussie online gambling start-up raises capital

Australian gaming start-up Virtual Gaming Worlds has secured $2.5 million in investment funding from Triple C Consulting, a boutique investment firm in its hometown of Perth.

The money will be used to further develop and launch Chumba World, the company’s massively multiplayer online casino game for Facebook, which allows users to become ‘the house’ and build their own casinos, slot machines and games tables using avatars as their characters. Other players can join in and play at the casinos, allowing owners to make virtual money which can be converted to real cash, with parent VGW taking a percentage.

The successful fund-raising comes only a month after VGW was kicked off the crowdsourcing website Kickstarter, where it had been trying to raise $50,000. No explanation for the company’s expulsion was given, either at the time or since .

A VGW spokesman said that the $2.5 million will help the company to secure an online gambling licence, as well as fund marketing the app on Facebook and the development of a dedicated mobile version. The company also says it will develop new features that enable players to monetise their casinos.

There are currently 10 games in Chumba Casino with “many more in development”.