South African Mobile Games Publisher, Carry1st Completes $27 Million in Pre-series B Funding
Carry1st, an African mobile games publisher, has recently received a $27 million pre-Series B investment to help it grow its business and create more games.
Bitkraft Ventures led the round, with backing from Andreessen Horowitz, TTV Capital, Alumni Ventures, Lateral Capital, Kepple Ventures, and Konvoy.
Carry1st was founded in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2018 and has its headquarters there.
To commercialize video games, the company employs its own payment system and online marketplace, Pay1st.
“As we work to scale fantastic content in Africa, we’re thrilled to collaborate with Bitkraft, one of the world’s top gaming VC firms, as well as a16z and other current investors,” said Carry1st CEO Robbin-Coker.
According to the company, Carry1st Shop, the gaming startup’s online marketplace for virtual goods, has also grown.
Customers in Africa can pay for content and more than 100 products through Carry1st Shop using 120 different payment methods, including bank transfers, cryptocurrency, and mobile money.
Carry1st raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Horowitz a year ago. Following that is the most recent round of funding.
The funds will be used to expand Pay1st as well as create, license, and distribute new games in order to promote overall growth.
