SNS+ pockets $4M for social gaming in the Asian market

Funding from WI Harper, Matrix Partners brings SNS Plus total funding to $12.5 million

Chinese VC firm, WI Harper Group increased its investment in SNS Plus, an international publisher and distributor of games for the Asian market.

Along with Matrix Partners, WI Harper Group announced a $4 million round of funding Monday for SNS Plus, which brings the total funding for the gaming company to $12.5 million.

Early this summer, SNS Plus, which is short for Social Networking Services Plus, had already published more than 60 games for Facebook and more than a dozen games on other platforms such as iOS and Friendster.

SNS Plus has offices in China, Taiwan and Thailand.

The two-year-old company has capitalized on its technology, which provides server, bandwidth, support centers and overseas operations to reduce the cost for bringing developers' games to the Asian market.

Several of the SNS Plus games have a very Zynga feel to them, especially a game offered on iOS called Happy Manor -- a farm-maintaining social game complete with cowgirls and chicken coops.

SNS Plus has put a deeper focus on brining mobile and online developers with HTML5-based platforms for its clients. 

"Understanding the cultural differences in all of our markets, and constantly striving to meet the demands of our players is an exceptional advantage for SNS Plus," Along Chang, CEO of SNS Plus, said in a statement. "We have achieved great growth due to execution of our business strategy and the implementation of our capital markets strategy. Looking forward, we will continue our efforts to increase the influence of SNS Plus, and honor our commitment to building long-term, sustainable value for both our shareholders and customers."

The Chinese firm WI Harper Group is has focuses on early and expansion stage companies with significant operations in China since its inception in the early 1990s. The firm manages over $750 million in capital from its offices in Beijing, Taipei and San Francisco.