Haveli Investments has entered into an agreement to acquire Canada-based children’s mobile app developer Budge Studios from General Atlantic, the majority backer of Tilting Point, Budge’s previous owner, for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2010 in Montreal by Michael Elman, David Lipes, and Noemie Dupuy, Budge Studios was among the first companies to bring recognized children’s brands to mobile platforms. The company has since reached over 2 billion cumulative downloads across its portfolio, with an annual install base consistently exceeding 200 million. Recent growth is primarily attributable to Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures and Bluey: Let’s Play! titles.
Key licensed brands include Bluey, PAW Patrol, Barbie, Disney’s Frozen, Hot Wheels, and Hello Kitty.
Budge Studios raised $3m in Series A funding from BDC Capital in Jan’15, followed by a follow-on investment in Mar’21 through BDC’s Growth Equity Fund for an undisclosed amount. At the time of the Mar’21 investment, BDC Capital became the largest shareholder ahead of the founders. In Mar’22, Budge Studios was acquired by US-based mobile games publisher Tilting Point, which was at that stage backed by General Atlantic following a $235m investment in Jul’21. At acquisition, Budge had over 1.25 billion downloads, tens of millions of MAU, and over 300k recurring subscribers.
The transaction represents a strategic shift in PE ownership, with Haveli officially taking the studio private. Haveli, founded in 2021 by Vista Equity Partners co-founder Brian Sheth, partnered with Apollo in Oct’22 with a $500m commitment to support Haveli’s investment strategy. Haveli has since scaled its capital base, closing its debut software buyout fund at $4.5B in Mar’25, alongside a dedicated $833.8m gaming venture fund. The firm has made several gaming investments, including a $100m round for Candivore in Aug’23, the developer of the PvP mobile puzzle game Match Masters. Haveli also holds stakes in PC, console, and mobile games developer Behaviour Interactive (Dead by Daylight) as well as PC & Console games developer Omeda Studios (Predecessor). This acquisition adds Budge’s family-friendly IP to Haveli’s expanding gaming portfolio, which also includes a co-investment in Jagex (RuneScape) alongside CVC Capital Partners.
