African mobile games publisher Carry1st has raised $27 million in a new financing round led by venture capital firm Bitkraft Ventures with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, TTV Capital, Alumni Ventures, Lateral Capital, Kepple Ventures and Konvoy.
“This capital raise comes off the back of a successful partnership with Call of Duty: Mobile in South Africa in the fourth quarter of 2022, as well as new partnerships to be launched in 2023,” the company said. It said it will use the funding “to develop, license and publish new games, as well as further expand Pay1st, the company’s monetization-as-a-service solution.”
A year ago, the Cape Town, South Africa-based company, whose games include SpongeBob: The Krusty Cook-Off from studio Tilting Point, Mine Rescue, Match League and Football Clashmanaged to raise $20 million from the likes of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from the likes of Nas, Google, League of Legends developer Riot Games, developer Sky Mavis and play-to-earn gaming guild Yield Guild Games.
In its May 2021 Series A funding, Carry1st, founded by CEO Cordel Robbin-Coker, COO Lucy Hoffman and chief technology officer Tinotenda Mundangepfupfu, had been backed by Riot Games, Konvoy Ventures, Raine Ventures and TTV Capital.
“We’re delighted to partner with Bitkraft, one of the world’s top gaming venture capital firms, alongside Andreessen Horowitz and other existing investors as we continue on our mission to scale awesome content in Africa,” said Robbin-Coker. “2022 was a year of significant growth, but together with our partners we look forward to making 2023 even better.”
For example, Carry1st last year signed a partnership with Riot Games “to pilot local payments for the company’s games in Africa,” which will be launched this year.
“Africa is home to the largest population of young people in the world, and this upcoming generation will grow up digitally native with videogames as their primary entertainment preference,” said Jens Hilgers, founding general partner at Bitkraft. “We have full conviction in Carry1st’s impressive founding team and their vision of building out foundational infrastructure and localized content, ensuring that gaming and interactive entertainment in Africa will thrive!”
Added Jon Lai, games general partner at Andreessen Horowitz: “We’ve been really impressed by Carry1st’s ability to deliver on our shared vision of building the leading next generation publisher for Africa.”