Beyond the Game: ​How Gamification is Becoming Mainstream​

FEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE B Y G DEV 1
Beyond the Game:
How Gamification is
Becoming Mainstream
# 15
FEATURE BY
FEATURE BY

FEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE B Y G DEV 2
METHODOL OGY
Analysis covers B2C consumer -focused non -gaming apps wi th explicit gamified features (e.g., streaks, XP, leaderboards, progress bars, rewards loops)
• Ga mifica tio n has become a b uzzwor d: gamin g mecha nics (stre aks, pro gr essio n syste ms, lead er boa rds) n ow d rive co nsume r app e nga ge m en t
an d mon etiza tio n — pr oven in Duo lingo , Noom, Str ava —yet lim ite d cover age e xists
• Ou r 5 -year per iod tra nsactio n ana lysis o f $2 0.7B a cr oss 2 08 tran sa ction s r eveals ca pital dep loyment patter ns, exit o ppo rtunities , a nd str ateg ic
bu ye r activity a cr oss thr ee verticals: EdTe ch , Fitne ss & W ellne ss, a nd Enter ta inme nt & Social
EDTECH (~4 0% dea l valu e)
ENTERTAINM ENT & SOCIAL ( ~2 3% dea l valu e)
TO TAL DEAL ACTIVI TY
2020 –2025 YTD
159
#OF DE ALS
$9.0 B
D EAL VALU E
INVESTMENTS (VC, PE & CVC)
49
#OF DE ALS
$11.7B
D EAL VALU E
EXIT S (M&A and IPO)
FITNESS & W ELLNESS (~3 7% dea l valu e)
D is cla im er : T his is I nve st Gam e’s firs t -ev er analy s is of the ga mif ied B2C apps sec t or. W e w elc om e c orr ect ions , a ddit ional dat a point s , and ide as f rom reader s as w e c ont inue tr ack ing t his s pac e. R eac h us a t inf o@in vest gam e. net

FEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE B Y G DEV 3
• Non -ga ming a pps fo r th e first time have surpassed mob ile gam es in n et revenu e in Q2’25 ($21 .2 B vs. $1 9.8B), bein g th e major driv er of mo bile
spen d growth a t 24 % YoY, while g ame s sta gna te d
• Th e stru ctural shift in mob ile app s un dersco res our ana lysis: un derstan ding whe re in stitutiona l cap ita l flows a nd which ve rti cal s a ttract strategic
bu ye rs in th is converging la ndscape
Note: (*) “A pps” includes non -gaming apps from Sensor Tower’s analysis Source: Sensor Tower Mobile App Insights: Q2 2025 Digital Market Index
W ORLDWIDE CONSUM ER NET IN -APP PURCHASE SPEND O N MO BILE ($B)
17, 0
18, 1
19, 1 19, 5
21, 2
19, 7 19, 9 19, 7 19, 8 19, 8
25 ,0% 27 ,5% 28 ,2% 24 ,2% 24 ,1%
3,1% 0,5% 0,0% -2,5% 0,5%
Q2 ’24 Q3 ’24 Q4 ’24 Q1 ’25 Q2 ’25
App s Games App s’ YoY Growt h, % Games’ YoY Growth, % *

FEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE B Y G DEV 4
• Investm ent in gamified con su mer a pps pea ke d during the 2 020 -21 COVID b oom, sim ilar to overall co nsumer so ftware cycle s (includin g ga mes)
• However, un like g ame de ve lope rs/pub lish ers, g amified a pps recovered q uickly: mo dest 2 022 -23 corre ction follo we d by 2 024 stabiliz ation –
20 25 YTD a lre ady exce eds fu ll -year 202 4, sho win g co nsisten t mom entum
• Stron g activity in bo th see d and la te -sta ge de als, with la te -sta ge accelerating in 2 025 , following stron g Serie s A activity a co up le of yea rs back
17 61 24 43 41 26
11 2 57 80 24
1,6 77
5,7 69
71 0
45 60
22 0
1 719
5 897
828
149 127
275
20 20 20 21 20 22 20 23 20 24 20 25 YTD
Pre-seed & Seed Series A Lat e-st ag e
NUM BER OF INVESTMENT S BY ROUND TYPE PRIVATE CAPITAL RAISED BY ROUND TYPE ( $M)
4 7
17
6
10 10
2
8
6
12
4
2
21
28
10
2
2
8
–
5
10
15
20
25
30
20 20 20 21 20 22 20 23 20 24 20 25 YTD
Pre-Seed & Seed Series A Lat e-st ag e

FEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE B Y G DEV 5
• EdTe ch le ads by d eal volum e (43 % o f total), va lidating g amified le arn ing as a scala ble an d su stain able m ode l. Investme nt is h igh ly con ce ntra te d
in a few flag sh ip co mpa nies, b ut mo men tu m p ersists, as recent late -sta ge de als sho w on goin g institution al inter est
• Fitne ss & W ellne ss tran sla te d gamification into da ily, sticky hab its. T he segme nt is less concen trated , with sub stan tia l cap i tal spread a cross a
broa der a rray o f pla tforms a nd sub -ver ticals, h ighlig hting op por tu nity be yo nd top br an ds
• Enterta inme nt & Social se es stead y, diversified investmen t –smalle r ch eck size s signa l e arly -sta ge catego ry experimen ta tio n
64 8
2,9 34
52 6
65 16 7
32 0
1,6 98
46
67
75 1
1,2 65
25 6
45 74
1 719
5 897
828
149 127
275
–
50 0
1 0 00
1 5 00
2 0 00
20 20 20 21 20 22 20 23 20 24 20 25 YTD
EdTech Enterta inment Fi tness & Welln ess
14
18
15
9
5
6
3
9 8
4
6
9 10
16
10
7 5
5
0
5
10
15
20
20 20 20 21 20 22 20 23 20 24 20 25 YTD
EdTech Enterta inment Fi tness & Welln ess
NUM BER OF INVESTMENT S BY SEGM ENT PRIVATE CAPITAL RAISED BY SEGMENT ($M )

FEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE B Y G DEV 6
NUM BER OF M&A & IPO DEALS BY SEG MENT M&A & IPO DEALS VAL UE BY SEGMENT ($M )
52 5 1,6 82 1,7 00
27 0
1,0 22
14 7
1,0 63
5,1 16
796
7 820
39
187
2 793
37
–
50 0
1 0 00
1 5 00
2 0 00
2 5 00
20 20 20 21 20 22 20 23 20 24 20 25 YTD
EdTech Enterta inment Fi tness & Welln ess
5 6 5
1
3 2
4 3
1
4
2
1
5
2
2
1
2
10
14
7
4
8
6
–
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
20 20 20 21 20 22 20 23 20 24 20 25 YTD
EduTech Enterta inment Fi tness & Welln ess
• EdTe ch d omin ates e xits: 45 % of dea ls volum e and 3 4% o f value –signa ls segm ent maturity with strategic buyers con so lidating the secto r;
B2C gamification is n ow e ssen tia l vs. op tio nal
• Fitne ss & W ellne ss: a lmost a ll seg ment’s e xit va lue concen trated in two mega -de als (Head sp ace $3B, F itb it $2 .1 B) –r emain ing exi ts are
small/mid -cap op portunities
• Enterta inme nt & Social: $ 2.5B e xits favor IPO pa th (Redd it, Ne tEase Cloud M usic) o ve r M&A –signa ling limited strateg ic bu ye r ap pe tite

FEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE B Y G DEV 7
DAT E TARGET VALUE TYPE LEAD INVESTO RS CAT EGORY
Apr’21 $1 ,6 96M SERIES F EDTECH
Apr’21 $6 47M SERIES F ENTERTAINMENT &
SOCIAL
May’21 $5 40M SERIES F FI TNESS & W ELLNESS
Sep’21 $5 00M GROW TH ENTERTAINMENT &
SOCIAL
Sep’20 $4 50M SERIES C FI TNESS & W ELLNESS
Aug’21 $4 40M SERIES H EDTECH
Jun’21 $3 00M GROW TH EDTECH
Dec’21 $2 66M SERIES G ENTERTAINMENT &
SOCIAL
Oct ’22 $2 50M GROW TH EDTECH
Aug’21 $1 77M GROW TH ENTERTAINMENT &
SOCIAL
SELECT L ATE -STAGE INVESTMENT S ROUNDS IN GAMIFIED APPS
• EdTe ch a nd Enterta inme nt & Social domin ate th e late -sta ge capital, each representing 4 o ut o f the 10 la rg est late -sta ge de als,
wherea s Fitness & W ellne ss has se en substantially less interest in late -sta ge capital

FEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE B Y G DEV 8
DAT E TARGET VALUE TYPE LEAD INVESTO RS CAT EGORY
Apr’21 $3 0M SERIES A FI TNESS & W ELLNESS
Jun’22 $1 9M SERIES A FI TNESS & W ELLNESS
Oct ’25 $1 4M SEED ENTERTAINMENT &
SOCIAL
Aug’25 $1 3M SERIES A ENTERTAINMENT &
SOCIAL
Jun’22 $1 3M SERIES A ENTERTAINMENT &
SOCIAL
Sep’22 $1 3M SEED FI TNESS & W ELLNESS
Mar’21 $1 3M SERIES A EDTECH
Dec’23 $1 2M SERIES A FI TNESS & W ELLNESS
Oct ’24 $1 1M SEED EDTECH
Jun’23 $1 0M SEED ENTERTAINMENT &
SOCIAL
SELECT EARLY -STAGE INVESTMENT S ROUNDS IN GAMIFIED APPS
• Early -sta ge capital is e qua lly split b etwe en Fitne ss & W ellne ss and En te rtainm ent & Social –a white sp ace opp ortu nity, wh ile Ed Te ch sho ws
limited e arly -sta ge flow a s sca led pla ye rs domin ate th e mature marke t

FEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE BY GDEVFEATURE B Y G DEV 9
DAT E TARGET ACQ UI RER VALUE CAT EGORY
Oct ’21 $3 B FI TNESS &
WELLNESS
Jan’21 $2 .1 B FI TNESS &
WELLNESS
Jan’24 $1 .7 B EDTECH
May’21 $0 .6 B ENTERTAINMENT
& SOCI AL
Dec’21 $0 .5 B EDTECH
Nov’21 $0 .4 B EDTECH
Sep’21 $0 .2 B EDTECH
Dec’20 $0 .1 B EDTECH
SELECT EXITS STO RIED IN G AM IFIED APPS FROM 2 020 TO 2 025 YTD
M&A
DAT E COMPANY VALUE 1 CAT EGORY
Mar’24 $7 48M ENTERTAINMENT
& SOCI AL
Jul’21 $5 21M EDTECH
Dec’21 $4 22M ENTERTAINMENT
& SOCI AL
Jun’24 $3 15M ENTERTAINMENT
& SOCI AL
Dec’20 $2 88M EDTECH
Dec’23 $14 7 M ENTERTAINMENT
& SOCI AL
Sep’20 $14 0 M ENTERTAINMENT
& SOCI AL
Oct ’20 $8 4M EDTECH
IPO
3
Note: (1) Gross proceeds at the time of IPO; (2) Merger; (3) SPAC
17 Education & Technolo gy
• EdTe ch clea rly domin ates the e xit scen e on bo th M &A an d IPO exit p aths, yet En te rtainm ent & Social ha s seen g ood mo men tu m wit h t he IPO
tra ck recor d wher eas Fitness & We llness p latfo rms haven ‘t se en str ong a ctivity afte r its pe ak in 2 021 with two meg a -de als
2