Turkish mobile startup Dream Games has raised $255 million from a Series C funding round, at a valuation of $2.75 billion.

The funding round was led by Index Ventures and featured participation from Makers Fund, BlackRock, IVP, Balderton Capital, and Kora.

The recent funding round is the third in the past year following $50 million raised in March 2021 and a further $155 million from its Series B round in June 2021. To date, Dream Games has raised a total of $467.5 million.

Since the studio’s first funding round it has scaled Istanbul-based its team from 30 to 80 employees, with plans to hire an additional 120 staff in 2022.

A dreamy figure

Dream Games launched its only title, Royal Match, in March last year. According to Dream Games, Royal Match is consistently placing within the top 10 highest-grossing mobile game markets, including the US and UK.

"Dream Games approaches gaming in a way that’s similar to how Pixar approaches filmmaking," says Dream Games co-founder and CEO Soner Aydemir.

"We wanted to bring a holistic and inspiring spirit of excellence to the many thousands of details involved in the game design process, from art and engineering to the mechanisms that underpin the user experience. The result is a rich, beautiful gaming experience with enduring appeal."

Index Ventures partner Stephane Kurgan added: "In eight months, Royal Match has become one of the most played mobile games of 2021. Dream Games has assembled one of the best teams in the industry, with a rare combination of creative talent, engineering expertise and relentless work ethic."

Going forward, Dream Games has stated that it plans to start development on a new mobile game in 2022.

The Turkish mobile games industry has been growing at a rapid rate the past few years, and most recently, Spyke Games raised $55 million from a Seed Round. Similar to Dream Games, Spyke's founding members were also former Peak Games employees, the leading mobile games studio from the region.