Carry1st plans to use funding "to develop, license and publish new games."
Carry1st, an African full-stack publisher of social games and interactive content with a focus on frontier markets, has raised $27 million in a recent funding round.
According to the news report shared by the Hollywood reporter on January 17th, the round was led by venture capital company BITKRAFT Ventures.
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BITKRAFT Ventures founding general partner, Jens Hilgers, commented on the company’s investment by stating:
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.
On top of that, Carry1st received investments from TTV Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Alumni Ventures, Kepple Ventures, Lateral Capital, and Konvoy.
The company plans to use the $27 million funding "to develop, license and publish new games, as well as further expand Pay1st, monetization-as-a-service solution."
When talking about the funding, Carry1st CEO Cordel Robbin-Coker noted:
This round is oriented around content, as our content engine has grown. Since our last raise, we’ve acquired two games, and we think there will be opportunities to acquire more games, particularly in this market. 2022 was a year of significant growth, but together with our partners we look forward to making 2023 even better.
Carry1st celebrated its accomplishment, noting that a significant fund comes "off the back of a successful partnership with Call of Duty: Mobile in South Africa in the fourth quarter 2022, as well as new partnerships to be launched in 2023."
A year ago, Carry1st secured $20 million in funding led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and American technology firm Alphabet. At that time, the company claimed that it planned to use the money to grow its portfolio and expand its internal capacity.
Carry1st is known for its mobile games, such as SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off, Gebe!Ta, Mine Rescue.
At the beginning of January, Square Enix revealed its plans to focus on blockchain game development in 2023.
