Carry1st, a publisher of social games and interactive content in Africa, announced a $27 million pre-Series B funding round, led by Bitkraft Ventures and featuring participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Konvoy Ventures, TTV Capital, Alumni Ventures, Lateral Frontiers VC, and Kepple Ventures. The funding will be used to develop, license, and publish new games as well as expand Pay1st, a monetization-as-a-service platform used by the company and third-party publishers. Carry1st also announced a partnership with Riot Games, where it will act as the American video game developer's payments partner in Africa, starting in 2023, leveraging Pay1st.
Additionally, Carry1st has other partnerships, including a "large game licensing deal" and a successful partnership with Call of Duty: Mobile in South Africa, where it helped the franchise achieve scale during a three-month pilot test. Carry1st's CEO, Cordel Robbin-Coker, stated that they believe the partnership with Riot Games is a big initiative for the company this year and that they are excited to leverage the opportunity to partner with big game companies that want to make more money in the region and understand how profitable Africa can be for them. He also mentioned that this funding round is coming off the back of a successful year for the company, which saw the first game from its CrazyHubs gaming accelerator become the No. 1 downloaded game in the U.S. for a few days.
The latest funding round brings Carry1st's total funding to date to over $50 million, with backing from top-tier funds focused on web3 and gaming, such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Konvoy Ventures, and now Bitkraft Ventures. Carry1st plans to use the funding to continue to grow its business by developing, licensing, and publishing new games and expanding Pay1st, its monetization-as-a-service platform.
The partnership with Riot Games is particularly exciting for Carry1st, as it will enable the company to act as Riot's payment partner in Africa, starting in 2023. This partnership will leverage Pay1st and help Riot Games better understand the African market and how profitable it can be for them.
Carry1st also has other partnerships in place, including a "large game licensing deal" and a successful partnership with Call of Duty: Mobile in South Africa, where it helped the franchise achieve scale during a three-month pilot test. Carry1st's CEO, Cordel Robbin-Coker, stated that they believe the partnership with Riot Games is a big initiative for the company this year and that they are excited to leverage the opportunity to partner with big game companies that want to make more money in the region and understand how profitable Africa can be for them.
Overall, this latest funding round is a significant milestone for Carry1st, and it will help the company continue to grow and expand its business by developing new games and expanding its monetization-as-a-service platform, Pay1st. With a strong team, innovative technology, and partnerships with top-tier funds and game developers, Carry1st is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing opportunities in the African gaming market.
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