App Intelligence Magic
AppMagic’s CEO on raising $3m, market intelligence price wars, and ad revenue estimates
PocketGamer.biz speaks to Max Samorukov about the state of market intelligence and its plans for the future
Investment Round
UGC platform developer Look North World raises $4.5 million in seed funding
Start-up publishes premium mods and games for Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft
Funding Round
Mobile market intelligence platform AppMagic raises $3 million
Firm aims to develop new platform features and expand global sales force in key markets
Investmen Report
Early-stage VC games funding hits 12-month high but growth and later stage investments still "very depressed"
Konvoy Ventures report notes "very depressed" VC investment landscape for growth and late-stage games companies
Ai In Games
Artificial Agency raises $16 million to alter NPC behaviour in games
The Artificial Agency team is made up of ex-Google DeepMind researchers
Investment News
Dusk secures $8 million to "reimagine" social multiplayer games
The platform aims to simplify building and playing multiplayer games on mobile by using its Dusk SDK
Early Echo
Echo Chess maker Echo Chunk raises $1.4 million in pre-seed round with a "passion" for AI
Participants include Andreessen Horowitz, Zynga’s Mark Pincus, Opendoor’s Eric Wu, and Roblox’s Stef Corazza
Finding Funds
Former Zen Match devs raise $3m in pre-seed funding round for new studio Grand Games
Developer has already soft-launched Magic Sort and is set to release Car Match later this month
Investment News
Square Enix leads $3.1 million investment round in Soccerverse
The new funds will be used to help accelerate the game's growth
Investment News
Voice-enabled Volley secures $55 million in Series C funding round
The startup develops AI-powered games that can be played via voice commands
Finding Funds
Felicity Games raises $700K in pre-seed to test 10 games within a year
Funds were raised from DeVC, Visceral Capital, and many angel investors
Game Over?
Finnish startup Bitmagic raises $4 million for AI platform able to create games from text prompts
With Supercell as an investor the company has launched its platform on Steam Playtest as it seeks to "make game creation accessible to everyone"
Fintech Funds
LinQ raises $2.3 million in seed funding to publish real-money games
Drive by DraftKings, Sharp Alpha Advisors, MiddleGame Ventures, and a16z Speedrun participated in the funding
Funding For Games
Scaffold secures $1.5 million to support game startups in Canada's Alberta
The initiative is sponsored by the Alberta government
Safety Startup
Tencent, Google and Meta vets raise $45 million in Series A towards online safety startup k-ID
The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners
Funding News
Pengu maker SLAY raises $5 million to create a new social gaming platform
Co-founder Fabian Kamberi says the investment will “help expand the ecosystem, so people can play, stay connected..."
Finding Funds
Brainspark Games raises £1.4 million towards building educational AI mobile games
The funding comes from its seventh Innovate UK Investor Partnership grant and a match-funded angel investment
Funding News
Game ads platform iion secures seed capital to fuel global expansion
The funds will expand iion's team, accelerate market penetration in the US and EU, and boost game publisher efforts in China
Funding News
The Sandbox raises $20 million to empower creators in the open metaverse
A mobile version of the decentralized metaverse is on the way, expected to launch in 2025
What Investors Want
"Half of investment is going into AI"
Goodbody's Patrick O'Donnell and JKL Capital's Peter Tsang discuss the latest investment trends
Funding Disaster
How Pixion Games lost nearly $2m in seed funding in three days
Studio founder and CEO Kam Punia opens up about the studio being three weeks away from running out of money - before eventually raising more capital
Sprouting Seeds
Juicy Button Games raises $3 million in seed round led by The Games Fund
Total Battle, Pixel Gun 3D and Mighty Party creators co-found new studio developing a 4X strategy game
Funding News
Anomaly's AI-powered gaming platform attracts $1.45 million in funding
The latest round of funding has amped up Anomaly's value to $11.4 million
Investment Round
Gorilla Capital invests in Lola Panda educational apps developer BeiZ
Funding set to help expand the educational apps, which have been downloaded over 40 million times, into new regions and languages
New Way To Ua
Subscrible raises $300,000 to launch ad-free mobile games platform
Start-up aims to reduce UA costs and provide “uninterrupted” gaming
Funding News
Yellow raises $5 million to fuel AI-powered 3D modeling tool
The start-up believes YellowSculpt “is a testament to what modern AI can achieve"
The Web3 Way
Supercell invests in web3 startup GFAL led by King, EA and Activision Blizzard veterans
GFAL has closed a $3.2 million seed funding round to grow its team and accelerate Elemental Raiders
Gaming Trends
Carv raises $10M series A to simplify data monetization for gamers
Carv has been profitable since December 2023 with a monthly revenue surpassing $1 million
Investment Bounceback
Gaming startups are getting investor attention once again
More than $260 million has been invested globally in early-stage rounds through Q1 2024
Investment News
Multi-million funding to ignite growth for UK games studios
The UKGF's £3 million initiative will provide grants of up to £150,000 to 22 promising games companies in the UK
Hot Five
Hot Five: New VC funds for mobile, Turkish investments, and Baby Shark makes a splash in Brawl Stars
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Investment News
Lil Snack lands $3 million in funding for AI gaming tools
The tiny team of four prioritize partnerships over marketing, working with Amazon Prime and BuzzFeed for distribution
Investment Incoming
Ludus Ventures invests $1M in Turkish studio Midas Games
Midas Games plans to launch multiple titles later in 2024
Investment News
Wargaming co-founder launches $50 million investment fund Mika Games to support mobile studios
The company aims to invest globally in mobile-first, free-to-play live service games with strong monetisation potential
Funding News
Laton Ventures secures $35 million for games investments in Turkey and beyond
Founder Görkem Türk tells PocketGamer.biz why he's so bullish on games and how Turkey's rising games industry has helped spur its fund raise
Funding Influx
Illuvium raises $12M funding for blockchain games
An open-world creature collector, city builder and autobattler will feature interoperable blockchain elements
New Partnerships
Tamatem Games relocates HQ to UAE after Abu Dhabi investment
The backing aims to help fuel publisher's growth and strengthen the UAE's overall gaming ecosystem
Monetisation Strategies
Balancy raises $700K to transform game monetization and live ops
Balancy has partnered with more than 100 games since it was established in 2022
Funding For Games
Gamecity Hamburg allocates €400,000 for game prototypes
Both small and medium-sized start-ups and studios located in Hamburg can submit applications
The Web3 Way
Gamer Arena nets investment into Web3, AI and esports ambitions
Dutch VC fund Domino Ventures has invested an undisclosed sum into the competitive platform
Scuti Incentives
Scuti.ai raises $10 million to incentivise player spending
The AI platform looks to retain players through rewards on its platform
Empowering Players
Ex-Homa staff raise $1.5 million for UGC platform PlayMakers
Start-up aims to make suite of tools available to any developers looking to add user-generated content to their games
Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
Gaming veteran Chris Heatherly raises $3 million for new game venture
Shima Capital led the funding round with participation from Sfermion, GSR Markets, Arca, Lyrik Ventures, Flying Falcon, Press Start Capital, and 32-Bit Ventures.
Hot Five
Hot Five: Apple and Roblox embrace AI, a Match Factory milestone, and Warframe mobile gets further funding
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Mobile Gaming Ecosystem
Matchingham Games' Ginger Joy spin-off secures $1.26M for Web3 gaming
Ginger Joy aims to develop Web3 games specifically designed for mobile devices
Digital Deal
Nitro Games receives further €3.5 million to continue Warframe mobile development
Digital Extremes’ popular IP turns 11 this year with a mobile version on the way
Hot Five
Hot Five: Layoffs stack up, strategic investments are abound, and Nintendo finds cause for mobile celebration
Our quick-fix start-the-week roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Studio
Ex-Mojang and Toca Boca devs raise €1.5m for new studio Roro
Stockholm-based developer working on "3D digital dollhouse" for mobile
Funding Round
Helsinki studio Order of Meta raises $3.3 million
Developer will use financing to finish development and soft launch Cargo Hunters
Ecosystem Expansion
AOFverse raises $3 million to propel Web3 gaming vision
The platform seeks to strengthen its position with the release of its flagship game Army of Fortune later this year