$1.5m paid to six startups in StarFund round

Social games operator CrowdStar has backed six startup studios with $1.5 million, as part of its on-going StarFund project.

Financial terms of the investment initiative were not announced, though the six studios – all unnamed – have each been promised $250,000.

The funding drive will result in new iOS and Android games in a matter of months, CrowdStar said in an interview with Venturebeat.

"We’ve had great inbound interest since we announced the fund,” said the initiative’s organiser Jim Mills.

“We are focusing on games that have mass-market appeal and multi-platform game play,” he added.

CrowdStar is looking into cross-promoting each of the six companies’ games across the operator’s social network.

“We think mobile is an attractive gaming market opportunity, with similar impact to Facebook games,” Mills said.