Ludei, the only HTML5 platform that brings native performance and features to mobile developers, today announced that it has received $1.5 million in funding from Spanish venture capitalists Kibo Ventures and Vitamina K, as well as several angel investors. Ludei, based in San Francisco, CA, will use the new capital to expand its JavaScript/HTML5 engineering team to meet growing demand from major technology and entertainment companies.
 
“This funding further validates our approach to HTML5 development,” said Ludei CEO Eneko Knorr. “HTML5 has taken a lot of criticism in recent years, and it’s true that on its own, it performs poorly on mobile. But our team and the world-class developers using our platform are proving every day that with the right support, HTML5 is ready for primetime, and we’re positioned to take on the biggest players in the app industry.”
 
More than 6,000 developers, including three of the top 20 game publishers in the world, are using the Ludei Platform to power HTML5 applications with the speed, complexity and features normally reserved for native applications. More than 500 games have been developed using the Ludei Platform and include ScribbleMix, Lunch Bug, Bubble Soccer and Rhino Hero. Ludei is the only solution in the world to support WebGL on every iOS and Android device, and with the new capital Ludei is pushing beyond game development to bring its platform to all app developers. Ludei supports every major mobile and Web market, including new platforms like Ouya and Tizen.
 
“Major publishers are recognizing the value of multi-platform development with HTML5, and the Ludei team has positioned the company to lead this new wave of HTML5 development,” said Aquilino Peña, founding partner of Kibo Ventures. “Fragmentation in the mobile market has made it very difficult and expensive for developers to develop, monetize and market their applications across multiple platforms. Ludei enables developers to code once and publish everywhere with native-like features, so they can maximize their reach and profits.”
 
Ludei’s initial funding came from Knorr, a serial entrepreneur who sold his previous company to Telefonica before founding Ludei. Today’s announcement brings Ludei’s total funding to $4.5 million.