Mighty Eagle becomes evangelist at Lightneer

Mighty Eagle Peter Vesterbacka, a founding member and investor in 2015-startup Lightneer, has taken up an evangelist position at the learning game studio.

“Peter’s big time involvement with Lightneer is yet another demonstration of our firm belief that ‘ed tech’ deserves world-class video game talent,” said Lauri Järvilehto, CEO and co-founder of Lightneer.

Vesterbacka unveiled his exit from Rovio in June, and suggested he would take up a larger mission. Vesterbacka joined Rovio in early 2010 when the company had launched its first Angry Birds game and was the global ambassador of the brand until 2016, carrying different titles, including ‘The Mighty Eagle’.

Lightneer said it has also completed a 2.8-million-euro ($3.16 million) financing round. This new investment is led by venture capital funds GSV Acceleration, joining with €1.8 million and IPR.VC, providing €1 million. This brings the total investment into Lightneer to 3.5 million euros.

“I’ve been vocal for a long time about my passion for using games as tools for learning,” said Vesterbacka. “But such an undertaking demands nothing less than a dedicated commitment of energy, resources and creativity on all of our parts. I could not be more thrilled to help the team at Lightneer change the paradigm of our relationships with games.”

Lightneer’s first title, Big Bang Legends, is a role-playing puzzler that brings the periodic table of elements to life as clever, collectable characters to help players of all ages learn about physics and chemistry. Developed in collaboration with experts from CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the game breaks down complex subjects like atomic particles and nuclear fusion. It will arrive globally on iOS and Android devices in 2017.