China's The9 in $100 mn fund for mobile apps

SHANGHAI, CHINA: Chinese online games firm The9 Ltd said on Tuesday it has entered into an agreement with three institutional funds to form a $100 million fund to invest in mobile Internet applications.

The9, which has been loss-making since it lost the right to operate Activision Blizzard's  hit online game World of Warcraft in China, has been on the search for new revenue streams.

The fund, which is supported by Chengwei Ventures, ChinaRock Capital Management and China Renaissance K2 Ventures, will focus on investing into domestic and overseas mobile Internet application and platform developers.

"Mobile Internet application and platform is now a huge area in mobile and the Internet industry with a rapidly growing number of smart phone users, especially in China," said Jun Zhu, The9's chief executive in a statement.

The firm also announced that it had entered into an agreement with OpenFeint, a provider of social gaming network software for Android smartphones and Apple's iPhones, to operate the OpenFeint's software in China.