CEO of mobile development studio, and Savy Games Group Subsidiary, Nine66, Kadri Harma will be leaving her role and returning to the world of venture capital.

The executive announced the news via her LinkedIn that she intended to return to investment through GameFounders, Sisu Game Ventures and GoBeyond Capital. Pending an official statement, it hasn’t yet been announced who will take over the role when Harma leaves.

Nine66 has been an important partner in building the gaming ecosystem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, most prominently in helping establish the Riyadh chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

In her statement, Harma praised the work Nine66 had done and stated that she was “very grateful to Savvy Games Group for the opportunity to kick off the #gamesindustry #ecosystem in #KSA and #MENAregion and super proud of the whole Nine66 team and the milestones we have reached together - you are all superstars! Keep the crazy."

What’s next for Nine66?

With the major moves Nine66 has made in the past and with the leadership of Savvy now firmly in place, it may be that Harma is now looking for a new challenge, returning to the world of investment for the time being. It's certainly an interesting time for as investment ramps up going into the second half of 2023, as predicted by analysts such as Drake Star despite a quiet start in 2023.

With MENA proving to be a major focus for the building of an ecosystem, and now for investment, we could see moves being made by GameFounders in the area in the future. With Savvy having recently acquired mobile developer Scopely for a massive $4.9bn, there’s no shortage of investment cash looking for a home in the region, so it’s likely that Nine66 will be busy again in the near future helping to grow the country’s gaming industry.