hi5, an also ran social network that most people forgot about long ago, has raised $3 million convertible note from existing investor Mohr Davidow. We’ve confirmed the funding, which was raised a year ago, with the company. This brings the social network’s funding up to $38 million.
Hi5, which has been actively remodeling its site to cater to the gaming industry, says this funding is part of a larger Series B round. Another undisclosed investor will be leading the round. The company just bought gaming startup Big Six. Last fall, the social network launched a totally revamped site that places a much stronger emphasis on games and virtual currency, along with a new avatar system.
As we’ve written in the past, with the massive success of Zynga and Playfish, it makes sense that hi5 would try to create a social network that centers around gaming itself. hi5 has over 60 million members, which is a far cry from Facebook’s 400 million users.
In December, hi5 brought on a new president, gaming industry veteran, Alex St. John, to help lead the social network’s efforts. Earlier in the year, the company suffered from layoffs and also hired a new CEO, Bill Gossman.