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.
Along with its Series A funding, k-ID was recently named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer for 2024, joining companies like early-stage Google and Airbnb. Each year, 100 companies are chosen for their potential to transform industries and society.
Investors’ Perspective: Social Impact + Business Traction
Regulations around online privacy and safety are becoming increasingly stringent worldwide, creating significant challenges for the gaming industry. Governments are implementing stricter laws to protect users, especially children, from data breaches and online exploitation. These regulations vary by country, adding complexity for game developers who must navigate multiple legal frameworks to ensure compliance.
This growing regulatory landscape presents a unique opportunity for solutions like k-ID. Understanding these business challenges, investors recognize that efficiently solving these problems regularly offers significant opportunities for any business.
“It’s rare to find this combination of unique founder-market fit, societal impact, and—most impressively—commercial traction,” said Moritz Baier-Lentz, Partner and Head of Gaming & Interactive Media at Lightspeed, who is joining the company’s board of directors. “Clearly, k-ID is solving a massive challenge for publishers, parents, teens, and kids worldwide. Embarking on this partnership during my parental leave only made it more meaningful.”
The lead investors of the round, a16z and Lightspeed, ended up being top-2 in our Most Active VC Investors Ranking 2023. You can learn of other a16z and Lightspeed investments from the tables below:
Lightspeed deals:
A16z deals:
