From the Bench concludes a 1 million Euro funding round with the support of "la Caixa" and Bonsai Venture Capital

• From the Bench, located in Alicante, develops multi-platform, sports-based social videogames.
• The aim of this round of funding is to position the company as a world leader in the development of sports videogames for mobile devices.
• From the Bench has created games that turn players into virtual trainers for the Spanish Football League and the NBA.

Through its venture capital company, Caixa Capital Risc, and Bonsai Venture Capital, "la Caixa" has participated in a one million Euro funding round for the startup From the Bench. The aim of the round was to consolidate the company's growth and position it as a leader in the development of sports videogames for all mobile platforms (iPhone, iPad, Android and Amazon).

From The Bench started in Elda (Alicante) in 2008 thanks to four entrepreneurial computer engineers with over 10 years of experience in developing multi-platform applications. The company won the Premio Emprendedor XXI 2013, a contest promoted by "la Caixa" and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. The company currently has over 35 employees, over 30 million downloads, and over 40 licensed games. www.fromthebenchgames.com

From the Bench began in 2010 by launching Fantasy Manager, a game that turned players into sports trainers, managers and directors for a football team. Real Madrid was the first club to have its own version, and teams such as FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, and Inter Milan soon followed, ultimately rising to the current number of 39 clubs with which the company has contracts.

The game, which is distributed under the trademarks of the various clubs, also launched Fantasy Manager MotoGPTM and, more recently, NBA General Manager, a basketball game licensed by the NBA.

The company is also developing Be a Legend!, a game that turns players into sports stars. Users assume the role of the team's best player, can play for free, and improve their growth by purchasing virtual products through micro-payments.

The videogames market

The sports videogames market for mobile platforms amounted to 800 million dollars in 2012 and is expected to reach 1.2 billion dollars in 2016.

So-called social games are the fastest-growing sector in the videogames market. This is due to the viral nature of the games that the social networks provide and to the reduced development costs that are encountered when compared with developing traditional videogames.
 
In total, freemium games are 80% of the market for mobile apps, which in 2012 amounted to 10 billion dollars in sales.

About Caixa Capital Risc

Caixa Capital Risc is the venture capital arm of "la Caixa", which invests in the early stages of innovative Spanish companies with a high growth potential, accompanying them throughout the different stages of their development.

With a turnover of 73 million euros, they invest in the capital of innovative companies via 4 investment vehicles: Caixa Capital BioMed, Caixa Innvierte Industria, Caixa Capital TIC and Caixa Capital Micro.

About Bonsai Venture Capital

Bonsai Venture Capital SCR is a venture capital company with twelve years of experience and specialization in the Internet sector. The company currently actively participates in managing the capital of leading companies such as Idealista, Softonic, Emagister, Akamon, Appszoom, Offerum, and in startups such as El armario de la tele, 11870.com, FamiliaFacil, Salir.com, and Gigas Hosting.
 The company used to have in its portfolio such relevant companies as Infojobs España, Tuenti, TopRural, Wuaki.tv, Niumba, and Neurona.