Zynga raises $15.18 million

Social gaming giant raking in more cash

Popular social gaming startup, Zynga raised $15.18 million on Tuesday, according to a regulatory filing.  No new investors were listed, but the company now has raised $54 million in total.  Previous investors include Kleiner Perkins, Avalon Ventures, Foundry Group, Union Square Ventures and Institutional Venture Partners.  
Zynga is the maker of a very popular game called FarmVille, in which users play with their Facebook accounts.  The game is free to play, but Zynga is making money by selling virtual goods within the game, such as seeds or tools to grow better farms.  The game is played by 65 million users monthly and is the number one app on Facebook. 

Rumors around the Web say that Zynga is generating around $250 million a year in revenue. The breakdown of those revenues are 90% come from virtual goods, such as tractors, scarecrows, drinks, and 10% from commercial offers from companies like Netflix, Blockbuster and Disney Movie Club, said Shernaz Daver, spokesperson for Zynga. But currently Zynga has removed its commercial offers, after some negative reports emerged about the quality of the offers.

But the company has also done some good things, announcing last month it contributed $487,500 towards the welfare of children in Haiti.  It made these contributions by donating 50% of profits from the selling of virtual goods on its Farmville game.