British games publisher NaturalMotion is hoping to make it big in Silicon Valley, after announcing an $11m Series B funding round from Benchmark Capital. The funding brings Benchmark partner Mitch Lasky – a mobile games industry veteran – onto NaturalMotion’s board, and will fuel the expansion of its San Francisco office. NaturalMotion started mobile life applying its 3D animation engine to American football (Backbreaker), but last year pivoted towards freemium casual games with the successful My Horse. “To some extent, there is a land-grab going on, so we’re trying to get to scale very quickly,” says CEO Torsten Reil. “We are looking to become one of the leading companies in the mobile games industry, if not the leading one.” Words to make Zynga fret? Or, indeed, reach for its chequebook…