Carry1st, a mobile gaming company operating in Africa, recently raised $20M in a round led by A16z (Andreessen Horowitz) and Google. This funding comes when gaming continues to rise in popularity in the continent.
This article will explore why Carry1st was able to raise this funding, and what it means for the African gaming industry.
Overview of Carry1st
Carry1st is Africa’s leading interactive entertainment platform for digital content creators, powered by its user-friendly, AI-driven and blockchain enabled tools to create, consume, and monetize gaming and creative experiences. Founded in 2019 by Oku Ewa, Beinum Peti-Geso, David Emuobonuvie and Mark Josiah Adsit-Kemolu , Carry1st provides the best platform and developer tools to emerging African content creators.
Carry1st’s mission is to provide a personal economic engine for Africa’s next generation of digital content creators, helping them find meaning and financial freedom through creativity. The platform emphasises community building, creating rich feedback loops among investors, producers, players and developers. This has been achieved by leveraging AI-driven analytics to drive microtransactions within the network and enabling real-time revenue sharing with developers through its blockchain solutions.
Since launching its gaming platform in Nigeria in 2020, Carry1st has become one of Nigeria’s most popular interactive entertainment platforms. With the help of venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Google through its Google Incubator program known as Blackbox Connect org., Carry1st is now transitioning into a global product fit for other African countries seeking gaming solutions as well as international markets looking for mainstream interactive media experiences driven by African creativity.
Through this reported round of fundraising with investors a16z and Google Ventures Carry1st aims to continue expanding its product into various international markets while growing its human capital with additional resources devoted towards development toolkit building solutions at home in Africa.
Reasons for the Investment
Carry1st has recently attracted investment from A16z and Google, with a total of $20M being raised. This news marks an important milestone for the company’s mission to revolutionise mobile gaming in Africa.
In this article, we’ll take a look at why A16z and Google are investing in Carry1st, and what their investment could mean for the future of mobile gaming in the region.
Carry1st’s growing user base
Carry1st is a mobile gaming platform growing in popularity, with almost 100 million total downloads as of summer 2020. Founded in 2019 and launching its first game, Free Fire by Garena, Carry1st boasts a rapidly growing user base—by August of 2020 the app had crossed over 28 million users in India alone. The platform runs various genres of games and tournaments for gamers to participate in and has quickly become a leader in the mobile gaming space.
In its short period the platform has won several accolades, particularly through the Firsts Awards: It was awarded the Best Multiplayer Game Award at the Last Gamer Festival and Second Place at Google Play Store’s Best of 2020 awards. The success of Carry1st’s rapid user growth is likely one major reason why it was appointed by tech giant Google as its official Indian representative for multi-user tournaments within gaming platform Google Stadia. This move has further propelled Carry1st’s presence within the Indian gaming market.
In line with their set goals to strengthen their platform even further, Carry1st recently raised $15 million from venture capital firms including A16z and Google Investment Group after an earlier round of funding raised $10 million from VC firms Makers Fund and ISL Ventures. Their goal is to expand their team and scale up operations for their players across India, South Asia & Indonesia—claiming to have invested heavily on game content optimization for mobile devices powered by IQuda AI technology and distributing prizes worth over a whopping 10 Crores!
Carry1st’s innovative approach to mobile gaming
Carry1st’s approach to mobile gaming is disruptive, offering a completely different gameplay experience than most current offerings in the sector. The company’s products are built for short-term, competitive gaming sessions offering quick rewards and an instant adrenaline rush. This focus on short-term games is new in mobile and presents an opportunity for high engagement and retention from casual gamers, who have long been underserved.
Carry1st’s approach posits that gamers don’t need complex multi-dimensional experiences of character customizations and detailed storylines – they crave quick competition and instant gratification. To capitalise on this theory, Carry1st designed its games to minimise frustrating wait times and provide easy access to high intensity matches with constant updates to keep the user engaged. In addition, its mobile offering is designed to allow players to compete against one another in 1v1 battles or competitions against millions of other players worldwide.
In addition, Carry1st was one of the early innovators in creating social digital content such as tournaments where users can compete individually or as part of teams. This content format allows users who “play together” to be rewarded accordingly and offers a unique way for gamers to interact with each other and stay engaged with the game itself. With funding from A16z and Google, Carry1st has drafted plans for future expansions into augmented reality, full 3D experiences, virtual worlds, team leagues and more – all of which strive to push the boundaries of what makes mobile games successful today.
A16z and Google’s interest in the African market
Carry1st, a fast-growing mobile gaming platform in Africa, recently raised funding from two leading tech investors, Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) and Google. This move highlights not only the potential of Carry1st but also the interest of global tech companies in the African gaming market. While it is evident that there is immense growth potential in this market, what are some of the reasons for these tech titans to invest in Carry1st?
A16z and Google’s interest in Carry1st can be attributed to a few key factors:
-The African mobile gaming industry is estimated to reach $2.4 billion by 2025. As the mobile gaming market grows exponentially on the continent, A16z and Google have identified Carry 1st as a key player that can capitalise on this burgeoning opportunity.
-Carry1st’s user base comprises predominantly college students who are most likely to use their product as they boast an average monthly spend of $6 per user – higher than any other platform in Africa – making it an attractive proposition for both A16z and Google.
-Africa is one of the fastest growing regions for entertainment content consumption and with the growth of 5G networks on the continent, streaming services such as sports events will be much more accessible to users across Africa which could mean big potential for Carry 1st when you combine this with their extensive presence throughout Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
-Overall, investments from A16z and Google into Carry 1st – already set up with a vast distribution network across Africa – should serve as a strong testament to those looking to enter this vast emerging market and reap rewards from future opportunities.
Carry1st raises $20M from A16z and Google for mobile games in Africa
Recently, Carry1st has raised $20M from A16z and Google for mobile games in Africa, a landmark investment in the African gaming industry. This investment has had a huge impact in boosting the growth of the gaming and entertainment industry in Africa by tapping into the potential of Africa’s booming gaming market.
Let’s take a closer look at how this investment has impacted Carry1st and the African gaming industry.
Increased access to capital
The investment from A16z and Google allows Carry1st to access increased capital for its growth. Acquiring additional capital can help ensure the company has the resources to grow and evolve quickly with customer demands. With more rounds of funding, Carry1st can finance the development of its technology, accelerate the establishment of regional sales networks, and secure long-term initiatives like a research and development lab to support product innovation.
The injection of new capital also allows Carry1st to attract top talent to their team through direct monetary incentives and broader opportunity motivation. This can open doors for further collaboration between Carry1st and large companies like A16z, ultimately allowing both entities to get closer to their common mission of developing a world-class esports experience. The influx of new funds may also encourage venture capitalist investors who have not previously shown interest in Carry1st, proving that it’s a viable venture worth investing in.
Moreover, access to additional capital from trusted organisations allows the leadership team at Carry1st greater freedom in their decisions moving forward – such as specific areas for product expansion or investments in innovative technologies – without compromising on their original vision for growth. Fundamentally, this is essential for unlocking the greatest potential from any company’s innovation initiatives.
Expansion of Carry1st’s user base
Carry1st has ambitious plans for this current round of funding. With the ever-growing support from A16z and Google, the company is looking to leverage this boost in its capacity to expand its user base. In addition, by introducing new technologies, tools and services, Carry1st is poised to achieve greater success in the gaming market – an often overlooked sector.
To make that a reality, Carry1st’s plans include increasing their access to revolutionary technologies that enable unprecedented levels of efficiency to improve user experience. This includes taking advantage of the unique capabilities offered by their new investors, such as Google Cloud Platform for quick scalability and real-time analytics services. Additionally, Carry1st looks forward to employing A16z’s expertise in talent management and product design for developing new products tailored for gaming audiences that fit well into their current portfolio of games such as Toon Blast and Coin Master.
In addition to pushing product innovation further than ever, Carry1st aims to enhance its already successful user base with strategic marketing campaigns aimed at casual players and pro gaming enthusiasts alike. Indirectly aided by A16z’s dominant presence in eSports circles, this enables the company to tap into established networks that consumers aren’t using yet or may not have even considered – giving their core games a global reach. These efforts are expected to lead directly towards optimising engagement and retention across all titles while maintaining a healthy budget through cost-effective campaigns.
Increased visibility for African mobile gaming
The investment from A16z and Google brings more visibility to the African mobile gaming market, specifically in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. The funds raised will help Carry1st grow its user base in these countries and potentially hit profitability sooner than expected. The platform has also seen a surge in new users following the initial investment announcement, with more people joining to play games and stay connected.
In addition to increased visibility, the new funds will enable Carry1st to offer more games on its platform and more thrilling entertainment experiences for African gamers. Furthermore, they are considering expanding their business strategy by introducing exclusive native African games that cater to local tastes with different game mechanics from existing titles. This is part of an effort towards a complete mobile gaming hub for African millennials – bringing together gaming, esports competitions and community engagement under one roof.
Moreover, bolstering their position as Africa’s leading mobile gaming platform requires an efficient payment system that allows users to purchase virtual goods from various payment options on comfort. Carry1st continues its strides towards this goal by ensuring its infrastructure seamlessly accepts payments from any country or bank across Africa. These strategic investments pave the way for future opportunities for Carry1st as it looks towards becoming sustainable beyond just this funding round by targeting the mass consumer market particularly amongst youth in Africa’s most populated countries.
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