Epic Games raises $1.25 billion from handful of investors
KKR, ICONIQ Capital, Smash Ventures, and four more join the ranks of Fortnite studio's minority shareholders
Epic Games has cashed in on some of its good fortune with Fortnite, as the company today announced it has raised $1.25 billion in investment from a group of seven different companies.
The Unreal Engine company has welcomed KKR, ICONIQ Capital, Smash Ventures, aXiomatic, Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and Lightspeed Venture Partners as new minority shareholders, joining a list that already included Tencent, Disney, and Endeavor. Epic said despite the new money pouring in, the company continues to be controlled by its founder and CEO, Tim Sweeney.
"We're excited to partner with the finest minds in the financial, sports, and entertainment communities. This reinforces Epic's position of leadership in real-time 3D technology, and accelerates our ability to improve the way people play, work, and interact with the world," Sweeney said.
The new stakeholders would no doubt be pleased to see their investment grow as much as the older ones. In 2012, Tencent acquired a little over 48% of outstanding Epic stock at the cost of $330 million. Earlier this year, a Bloomberg analysis put the company's total value between $5 billion and $8 billion.