Author: Hiber Official

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2021 Funding

Hiber Raises $15M USD Series A Funding

EQT Ventures leads the round to expand the social entertainment network focused on 3D interactive user-generated content (UGC) and self-expression

June 30, 2021 – Hiber announced that it has taken $15M in Series A funding, led by EQT Ventures. This brings Hiber’s total funding taken to date to almost $20M, giving the company the capital it needs to further accelerate the growth of its social entertainment network, Hiber. New investor CMT Digital also participated in the round, along with existing investors Luminar Ventures, Bumble Ventures, Konvoy Ventures, and SYBO. 

Co-founded in 2017 by CEO Michael Yngfors and Chief Innovation Officer, Mattias Johansson, the team originally created HiberWorld (the browser-based version of the Hiber platform) as a place for people to create their own 3D interactive experiences and share them with others, without the need to code. In late 2019, the company reached a major milestone when it released touch creation mode, giving users the ability to make and share their creations using mobile devices with touch screens.

Since then, more than one million experiences have been created, including virtual worlds, 3D hangouts, games, playgrounds, speed-run challenges, interactive science museums, roller coasters, pixel art showcases, and more. Hiber has been growing consistently over the past year, with more users, and higher engagement, and retention. 

That, combined with more creators month over month and additional social features, has made Hiber a go-to hangout for the 13+ crowd — as anyone can easily create their own 3D interactive experience and share it with friends instantly. Today, Hiber continues to focus on removing friction between the proposition of self-expression as the newest emerging social, creative medium, and Gen Z’s passion to express themselves in new ways.

“Having EQT Ventures onboard is a huge validation that we are on the right track in growing our business and our platform,” said Michael Yngfors, CEO and Co-founder of Hiber AB. “Their knowledge of the interactive media and digital consumer entertainment spaces is phenomenal and we are already benefiting from their feedback and guidance. We are confident that with them backing us, we will reach our goal of empowering Gen Z to express themselves through creation, even faster.”

“The Hiber team and their accomplishments to date are incredibly impressive,” said Lars Jörnow, Partner at EQT Ventures. “We believe they are perfectly aligned at the focal point of UGC, social entertainment and emerging creator economies. Worldwide, people downloaded 30% more mobile games in the beginning of 2021 than the end of 2019 — spending an unprecedented $1.7 billion per week in Q1 2021. Beyond games, however, there are countless more possibilities across myriad entertainment industries. That’s why we see a huge opportunity for Hiber to become a part of daily life for Gen Z.”

About EQT Ventures

EQT Ventures is a multi-stage VC fund that partners with the most ambitious and boldest founders in Europe and the US. The fund is based in Luxembourg and has investment advisors stationed in Stockholm, Amsterdam, London, San Francisco, Berlin and Paris. Fuelled by some of Europe’s most experienced company builders and scalers, EQT Ventures helps the next generation of entrepreneurs with the capital and hands-on support needed to build global winners. For further information, please visit https://eqtventures.com

Categories
2021

Hiber Hits 1 Million Experiences Milestone

The Accomplishment Triggers the Release of More than 130 Additional Items and Assets for the Community to Use in Their Creations

Gothenburg, Sweden – May 13, 2021 – Hiber AB, today announced that it has passed its first major milestone with more than 1 million experiences created on the Hiber platform. The milestone marks massive growth over the past year in terms of monthly users, the number and percentage of people that are creating each month, and games created on the platform.

Hiber Surpasses 1 Million Experiences

“The road to the first million experiences really began to take shape when we released touch creation on mobile devices in October 2019,” said Mattias Johansson, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Hiber AB. “Since then, we have seen everything grow month over month and the community is constantly asking for more things with which to build. To celebrate the occasion, we are also releasing what we like to call “The Lost Assets” which includes many retired assets that we have used to create with, over the past few years, and we know the community is going to go wild.”

The Hiber platform enables anyone to create their own interactive 3D experiences, virtual worlds and games without the need to code. Users can start creating in seconds and publish their creations in just minutes, enabling them to use games and interactive 3D as a new form of self-expression. Wrapped with social features including chat, comments, likes and followers, Hiber is starting to attract the next wave of creators and influencers as they realize Hiber offers a unique opportunity to interact with fans and followers in meaningful ways. Check out Hiber via web browsers at: www.hiberworld.com

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2021

The Lost Assets

We’re launching over 130 new items and 10 new environments on HiberWorld.com!

The original sketchbook where many Hiber assets began

For ages, people have whispered about lost blocks from the early days of Hiber. Some assets can still be seen in the worlds created during this era but they are not easily found among the hundreds of thousands of worlds created.

The legend talks about even more hidden treasures long forgotten on servers and hard drives in The Physical World. There are whispers about magic, plants, animals and even cities that once existed but never seen by any living Hiberian today.

For a long time it was thought that the legend was just a legend. Until one day when a group of dedicated Hiberians decided to take on the quest to find The Lost Blocks. After digging through archives, collecting stories of old and reading through ancient documents, the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place, and the legend slowly came to life. Then came the day that no one thought ever would come: The Lost Blocks were found.

Eternal Spring

An eternal spring is an impossibility in The Physical World but in Hiber nothing is impossible. Now you can create your own using the beautiful cherry blossom trees. The trees come in two different shapes, and you can enhance the vibe of your forest by adding cherry blossom petals that follow the wind using the new Cherry Blossom environment.

Architect Your Dream City

For those of you who like to build atmospheric games or urban shooters, we’ve dropped some city assets! Use the different house and street blocks to create your own virtual city, whether it’s inspired by the romantic streets of Paris, or a cool, urban block in New York City! 

City created on a mobile phone

10 New Environments

Explore the new environments, we have everything from an eerie Alien Green, and the enchanting Cherry Blossom to the windswept mountains in Spiky Canyon. Take your pick. 

Fan Favorites Return

We’ve also dug deep into our developer archives, and repurposed a lot of fan favorite items, so now there are a lot of fun little gifts that we think you are going to love! Want to make a dense forest filled with lovely animals or a rocket that takes you to the moon? Well now you can!

Make sure to check out:

These are just a few of the exciting additions to the platform. Play on HiberWorld.com now to explore the rest of the game blocks! The Blocks are available for both Create and Advanced Create Mode. Follow Hiber on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to stay up to date with other exciting news!

Now, Go Bananas!

Categories
Environment

Hiber Partners with Reforestation Non-Profit One Tree Planted

Hiber and One Tree Planted are Raising Awareness for Earth Month by Engaging Thousands of Gamers in Themed Virtual Experiences

April 22, 2021 – Hiber AB, the team behind the User Generated Content and game creation platform, HiberWorld.com, has partnered with One Tree Planted to raise awareness for Earth Month. The initiative marks Hiber’s first foray into supporting social causes it believes align closely with its core values and looks to plant 1,000 trees around the world in an effort to make the real world a better place. Anyone interested can donate to the campaign at: https://forest-fundraiser.raisely.com/t/hiber 

“It’s amazing to think that an idea six years ago has turned into a company, a wonderful community, and a platform that can help plant a forest somewhere on Earth. A forest that will live on for hundreds of years and be a home for all kinds of animals and plants.” said Mattias Johansson, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Hiber AB. “We are honored to have the opportunity to partner with One Tree Planted, and show our loyal Hibernians that we support this very worthy cause to sustain our planet. We hope we inspire the community to contribute to their program for everyone’s future.”

Hiber Celebrates Earth Month 2021

Throughout April, Hiber is rolling out a number of initiatives in support of Earth Month, including releasing an Earth Month-themed game and game avatar on HiberWorld.com. This initiative also asks members of the platform to create their own Earth Month-themed virtual worlds, and invite their friends. Hiber will leverage the theme to inform players about the organization One Tree Planted and encourage them to take part in a community fundraiser, to join in on the tree planting efforts. Hiber’s employees have already kicked off the contribution to the fund by donating to the cause of reforestation around the world. 

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Funding Hiberians

Hiber Raises $2.25M Seed Round for Creative Content Platform

Massive Growth and More than 300K Games already in 2020 Lead to Bumble Ventures, SYBO, Konvoy Ventures, and GFR Fund Joining as New Investors

August 20, 2020 – Hiber AB announced the successful completion of a $2.25M financing (20M SEK) Seed round fueled by rapid growth in the platform’s audience and the number of games created on the platform. With no signs of slowing, Hiber’s user base has created over 300,000 games in 2020 as users flock to the platform. The funding round included existing investors Luminar Ventures, and Wild Sloths OY, and added Bumble Ventures, SYBO, Konvoy Ventures, and GFR Fund to the company’s list of backers. Hiber is using the funds to accelerate the development of its growing platform and to make key hires across its product and technology groups. As part of the round, Mathias Gredal Nørvig, CEO of SYBO, the studio that created Subway Surfers, will also be joining Hiber’s Board of Directors.

Hiber AB co-founders Mattias Johansson and Mikael Yngfors and the Hiber team
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Hiberians

Hiber Adds Game Industry Veterans

Johan Peitz takes on role of VP of Product and Lucas Hadin joins as Director of Business Intelligence

June 2, 2020 – Hiber AB announced some key additions to its product development team with Johan Peitz and Lucas Hadin, both previously at EA. The two games industry veterans further expand the team’s experience and add proven executives with data-driven product development expertise. 

Johan Peitz joins Hiber as VP of Product, coming from EA’s Ghost Games where he led the live service for the Need for Speed franchise. He has spent the last two decades making games, from electronic board games to massive mainstream games for Facebook, web, mobile, and consoles. Previous engagements include Head of Product and later Head of Games for mobile chat app Palringo, as well as founding and leading his own games studio Free Lunch Design. He has served in a variety of roles ranging from CTO to  Creative Director, to heading product management and games departments, and has a strong background in both social and mobile.

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Platform News

Hiber Launches New Shooter Game and In-Game Chat With Friends

Growing Social Games Platform Will Soon Let Players Use the New Multiplayer Features and Assets in Their Own Creations

April 2, 2020 – Hiber AB announced that it has released the Hiber Shooter, a free-to-play third-person shooter game featuring drones. The new arena shooter offers a new genre of games for players on the HiberWorld platform. The company also released Chat With Friends, a new social feature allowing community members that are friends on the platform to start private games that allow them to text chat in real-time while sharing multiplayer game experiences. Both features have been popular requests of the community and reflect Hiber’s goal to deliver a social platform that enables a generation to express themselves through games.

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Platform News

Hiber Launches Touch Creation Mode

With the Majority of Gen Z Interacting with Content Via Mobile, Touch Devices, Hiber Brings Game Creation Tools to the Masses

October 22, 2019 – Hiber AB announced the release of the beta version of Touch Creation Mode for its HiberWorld game creation platform, allowing people with a mobile touch device to create games from the palm of their hand, anywhere. The new Touch Creation Mode is available now from almost any browser on touch devices at: www.hiberworld.com

Previously, games on HiberWorld needed to be created using a desktop computer, however the fast-growing platform has seen up to 90 percent of its user base accessing the site and games via mobile touch devices. The new mode extends the ability to create games to even more people around the world and makes game creation even more inclusive.

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Hiberians

Matthew Wilson Joins Hiber Board of Directors

Former Rovio Entertainment Executive to Help Guide Cutting-Edge Browser-Based Game Platform

September 9, 2019 – Hiber AB announced that game industry veteran Matthew Wilson has joined the company’s board of directors. Wilson participated in the company’s recently announced Seed Round through his investment company, Wild Sloths OY. Prior to starting Wild Sloths, Wilson worked for nine years at the leading Finnish gaming studio Rovio. He exited soon after Rovio’s IPO. His positions included Head of Marketing for the launch of Angry Birds, Head of Third-party Publishing, and Director of Business Development. Wilson has extensive expertise and experience in monetization of mobile games and commercialization of intellectual property rights. In addition, he has an extensive network in the gaming industry. Wilson will bring his industry knowledge and network of connections to aid the company in its mission to remove the barriers to creating and playing games. 

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Funding

Hiber Announces Pre-Seed Funding for Game and Entertainment Platform

Browser-Based Game Platform Brings Interactive Content to Mobile Devices, PCs, Consoles and Smart TVs Globally

July 31, 2019 – Hiber AB announced they have closed their Pre-Seed Funding Round led by Stockholm-based Luminar Ventures. The company has a beta version of its browser-based game and entertainment creation platform online at www.HiberWorld.com, where creators and players can already build and share games on the platform today. The funding brings the current total investment in the platform to almost $1 Million and will allow the company to reach its next milestones as it rolls out globally.

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