Kirkland North wins $225K to turn your neighborhood into ‘Risk’
Web game startup Kirkland North brought in $225,000 in a seed funding round led by Harrison Metal Capital last week, reports PE Wire. The Oakland, Calif.-based company will continue to develop PlayTurf.net, a site that lets you play a ‘Risk’-like war game called Turf based in your own neighborhood.
It works very similar to the board game, presenting maps of your local community split into zones that players then attempt to conquer. All moves are made through the online interface, but it’s assumed that most users will team up with neighbors and strategize offline — spurring real-life social networking (a novel concept these days). With Turf, you can also customize your game to your company’s office or your college campus.
With the latter, it’s in direct competition with GoCrossCampus, a similar game already entrenched at many schools (the Ivy League already has a GoCrossCampus championship tournament ). The two startups have done battle over who developed the idea first, suggesting that only one can win.
Next Story: Sustainable builder Project Frog leaps ahead with new $4M
Previous Story: Surprise! Venture investments falling
About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.