Why Supercell wants to invest in games companies

Supercell gave its investment arm a refreshed brand last month with a new website as the Brawl Stars developer looks to shout louder about the funding opportunities it offers games companies.

Since 2016, the famous Finnish studio has invested hundreds of millions of dollars. Deals include Applivery, Appcharge, Bitmagic, Future Run, Metacore and more.

While it has been active in funding other companies for years now, the new brand identity for Supercell Investments aims to make its work more visible.

“We saw the need to help founders and teams better understand what Supercell Investments is all about,” Supercell Investments lead Jaakko Harlas tells PocketGamer.biz.

“That’s why we refreshed our brand identity and launched a new website to make it easier for game studios and game tech teams to understand who we are, what we do, how we can support them, and how to connect with us. We’re looking for teams with high ambition, strong execution skills, and a relentless drive to build great games.

“Our strategy has not changed. On the early-stage side, we continue to look for exceptional, ambitious founders with the talent and drive to build category-defining games. In parallel, we’re keeping an eye on M&A opportunities with more mature studios.

“As a strategic investor, we invest when the right team and the right opportunity come together.”

What is Supercell investing in?

Supercell’s core focus is on game studios and game technology companies. Harlas says it is willing to invest in teams of all backgrounds, sizes and locations across a broad range of stages, from pre-seed and seed to later-stage opportunities. Supercell can act as the sole investor, or join others in a funding round.

“We’ve historically focused on mobile, but we’re increasingly excited by cross-platform experiences,” says Harlas. 

“We also see growing potential in-game tech, tools, and infrastructure that support how modern games are built, launched, and scaled.”

He adds: “We invest from our own balance sheet, giving us the flexibility to tailor investment size to the opportunity from small pre-seed tickets to larger growth rounds. We're also actively evaluating M&A opportunities.”

Harlas states that Supercell aims to take a “founder-first” approach with its investments, with differing levels of involvement from team to team. 

“The principle stays the same: we don’t control, we support. Every studio we invest in retains full operational independence and creative control.”

Community support

Outside of capital, Supercell is also offering investees support with hiring, as well as giving them access to a network of peers and trusted partners, shared tools, learnings and introductions. The Supercell Investments community houses more than 1,000 professionals, which includes teams from its investees, as well as its own staff.

Harlas calls it a peer-driven ecosystem “built to support founders and teams in a hands-on and practical way”.

“Support starts with recruitment,” explains Harlas. “We have two full-time team members dedicated to helping our investees find and attract top talent. 

“We also offer access to a trusted network of partners that provides support and exclusive deals, discounts, and credits to help teams scale their products efficiently. Many of Supercell’s own partners extend these benefits to the broader community as well, creating even more value.

“Community building and knowledge sharing are at the heart of everything we do. We regularly host events for founders and game teams to connect, exchange learnings, and support one another. 

“In June, we’re bringing together our entire community for an annual summit focused on peer learning. The summit includes dedicated peer sessions covering topics like performance marketing, data and analytics, tech, game design, and leadership where teams can run retrospectives, share best practices, and learn collectively.

“To keep the momentum going year-round, we also host a shared Slack workspace where community members can easily connect, collaborate, and get advice from one another.”

Supercell has gone through its own investment journey and acquisition deals with Softbank and Tencent, while it has also backed a number of other companies itself. Harlas has been through much of this, having joined the developer in 2013.

He says one of its biggest learnings through this experience is the importance of expectation alignment – ensuring that both the team and investor share a clear understanding of ambition, goals, and what success might look like.

“We also believe there’s no single ‘right’ way to invest in game companies," says Harlas. "Different investors bring different strengths. Our advantage is that we’re a games company ourselves – we’ve built and launched multiple titles, and we understand firsthand how challenging and rewarding that process can be. 

“We aim to bring that experience to the table in a way that’s helpful, never prescriptive.”

Why invest?

Over the last few years, Supercell has transformed its business, shaking up its culture and team sizes as it looked to return to growth. Thanks in particular to Brawl Stars' success, things are off to a good start after the company reported $3 billion in revenue in 2024.

For new game development, Supercell has introduced the Spark initiative, which CEO Ilkka Paananen previously said involves applying a “very systemic approach” to creating new teams within the company, which includes evaluations from a professional psychologist. Initially used internally, the initiative has also been opened up to external developers. Meanwhile, its live ops teams have also grown to produce more substantive updates and events.

On top of that, it’s now looking into expanding its IP into TV and film, while Harlas noted it remains interested in M&A activity – Supercell recently fully acquired London studio Space Ape, turning it into Supercell London.

So why invest in other companies rather than focus on its own portfolio and make key acquisitions to fuel growth? What does Supercell get out of this?

“Supercell invests in other game companies to broaden its reach beyond the walls of its own studios,” explains Harlas. “Not every talented founder wants to join an existing company, many want to build something of their own. By backing independent teams, we can support that ambition while also learning from it.

“This approach gives us access to a wider talent pool, fresh perspectives on game development, and exposure to genres, platforms, and creative approaches outside our core focus. In an industry where making a hit game is incredibly hard, we believe in taking more shots on goal, not just ourselves, but by empowering others.

“At the same time, the value flows both ways. Our community becomes a place of shared learning and collaboration, creating a powerful community of builders who can learn from each other’s wins and mistakes.”

What to find out more about the investment landscape? We'll be hosting an Investment Summit at the Dubai Game Expo Summit powered by Pocket Gamer Connects on May 7th to 8th 2025.