South African mobile gaming startup Carry1st secures $20m from a16z, Google

Carry1st, a South African mobile game firm, has secured a US$20 million Series A extension round led by Andreessen Horowitz, Avenir, and Google to help it scale across Africa.

Carry1st, based in Cape Town, is a mobile games publisher serving the first generation of African smartphone users, with games such as Mine Rescue and SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off reaching millions of gamers across the area. To better monetise content, the startup has also established a proprietary payment system and an online marketplace.

Carry1st received a US$6 million Series A fundraising round in May of last year, and it has now announced a US$20 million expansion to that deal, sponsored by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, a16z is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that invests across stages and manages US$28.2 billion in assets across numerous funds. Carry1st is the company’s first African investment.

Avenir and Google are also participating in the round, as are a number of significant angel investors, including Grammy winner and famed crypto investor Nas, as well as the founders of Chipper Cash, Sky Mavis, and Yield Guild Games. Riot Games, Konvoy Ventures, Raine Ventures, and TTV Capital are among the new investors in Carry1st’s May 2021 Series A.

Carry1st will use the additional funding to increase its content library, grow its product, engineering, and growth teams, and recruit tens of millions of new users, following 96% monthly revenue growth. It is also growing into game co-development, collaborating on creative concepts with leading game studios, and building the infrastructure to allow play-to-earn gaming.

“We’re pleased to join with this world-class group of investors who provide expertise in gaming, fintech, and web3 in addition to capital,” said Cordel Robbin-Coker, co-founder and CEO of Carry1st.

“In 2021, we launched a number of games and digital commerce systems, enjoying extremely rapid growth.” We can accelerate this growth and fulfill our objective of being the region’s largest consumer internet company if we work together.”

Andreessen Horowitz general partner David Haber expressed satisfaction at the firm’s first investment in an African-based company, Carry1st.

“We see enormous possibility for the company to replicate the great results we’ve seen in regions such as India, China, and Southeast Asia.” “We couldn’t be more excited to join founders Cordel, Lucy, Tino, and the Carry1st team on their ambition to develop Africa’s Garena,” he stated.