Weekly News Digest #26
# of announced deals
9
announced deals’ size
$95.8m
# of closed deals
8
k-ID Raises $45m in a Series A Round
Singapore-based tech company k-ID has closed a $45m Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Konvoy, TIRTA, Okta, and Z Venture Capital. The round brings the studio’s total amount raised to $51m, with the first funding coming from a16z’s SPEEDRUN accelerator last year.
k-ID: Global Compliance Engine for Age-appropriate Gaming Experiences
Established in 2023, k-ID emerged from stealth in Mar’24. The studio was founded by Kieran Donovan, Timothy Ma, Julian Corbett, and Jeff Wu. The k-ID team brings experience from companies like Meta, Tencent, Google, Take-Two, and EA.
k-ID offers a cross-platform, instant sign-on solution specifically designed for kids and teens. For game developers, this is the opportunity to delegate all the dealings with regulations and compliance in various countries. For parents and young users, it ensures a safe and user-friendly online experience.
Read the full article on our website.
We thank MY.GAMES and Xsolla for supporting this digest.
| NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS |
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
India-based esports company NODWIN Gaming plans to acquire Germany-based marketing esports company Freaks 4U Gaming for ~$32.4m (€30.3m). NODWIN plans to acquire 57% of shares via a share swap agreement. This is the second transaction for NODWIN, which initially invested ~$8.6m (€8m) for 13.5% ownership in January 2024. The deal comes amid layoffs at Freaks 4U Gaming.
UK-based multimedia entertainment company OV Entertainment Group has acquired Brazil-based Kokku and Argentina-based 3OGS, both outsourcing tech companies, for an undisclosed sum. These acquisitions are part of the recently established OV Group’s strategy to become a unified player in the LATAM market. The company also plans to make more acquisitions before the end of 2024.
France-based PC & Console games publisher and developer Pullup Entertainment has acquired a minority stake in Australia-based PC & Console games developer Uppercut Games and France-based PC & Console games developer Rundisc for an undisclosed sum. Both companies will continue to work on new projects through Pullup Entertainment’s subsidiary, Focus Entertainment Publishing.
US-based games publishing label Infogrames has acquired the rights to the Surgeon Simulator title from US-based multiplatform games publisher tinyBuild (LON: TBLD) for an undisclosed sum. The label plans to expand the title with new games and new content.
VENTURE FINANCING
Web3 gaming platform Redacted has raised $10m in a funding round co-led by Spartan Group, with participation from Saison Capital, Animoca Brands, Polygon Ventures, and other investors. The funds will support the development of the company’s gamification ecosystem.
US-based mobile games developer Starform has raised $5m from undisclosed investors. The funds will fuel team expansion and product development for new platforms. After the last $5m round in Aug’21, the company launched its debut title, Metalstorm, in Nov’23.
Ireland-based real money games technology company LinQ has raised $2.3m from Drive, Sharp Alpha Advisors, MiddleGame Ventures, and a16z Speedrun. The funds will support entering the real money gambling market. The company’s total funding is now $3.8m.
According to the SEC, US-based esports company Vanta has raised $1.1m in a funding round from undisclosed investors.
FUNDRAISING
Canada-based accelerator program Scaffold has raised ~$1.5m (CAD2m) to support video game startups in the Alberta region. Half of the funds were provided by a Canadian government organization, 38% by the private organization Alberta Innovates, and the remainder by the head of the accelerator. The accelerator will focus on doubling the size of small and medium-sized game businesses within the province. Previously, the accelerator supported Studio Monsoon, which co-developed The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria.
