‘Angry Birds’ fuels Finland mobile games boom

The success of "Angry Birds" is helping Finland’s other mobile-game fledglings take wing.

Enticed by the title’s rapid rise to fame, venture-capital investors are flocking to the Nordic country in search of the next hit. The game developers attracting attention include the makers of "Clash of Clans," "Hay Day" and "Hill Climb Racing." Each of those has had millions of downloads, joining "Angry Birds" in Apple Inc.’s application store’s top lists.

Expanding at an annual pace of 57 percent, gaming has emerged as a niche growth industry for the country of 5 million seeking to diversify its economy as once-dominant mobile-phone maker Nokia Oyj shrinks and cuts thousands of jobs. "Angry Birds" maker Rovio Entertainment Oy attracting $42 million in venture money in 2011 has helped local rivals including Supercell Oy and Grey Area Oy also lure international backers.

"There’s an amazing critical mass here," said Sean Seton- Rogers, general partner at London-based Profounders Capital, who joined thousands of investors and entrepreneurs in the Nordic region’s biggest startup event, Slush, in Helsinki this week. "Once you start having a viable ecosystem, it feeds off itself."

Helsinki-based Supercell’s "Clash of Clans" was the top- grossing iPhone app in the U.S. as of yesterday, meaning its players spent the most money, including in-game purchases, according to appannie.com. Oulu, Finland-based Fingersoft Oy’s "Hill Climb Racing" was the most downloaded free game. Rovio’s "Angry Birds" was named the most downloaded paid app ever this year by Apple, and its "Angry Birds Star Wars" edition is the most popular paid app now, according to appannie.com.

Bloomberg