Carry1st, an SA-based mobile games publisher, has raised more than R300m in a new funding round, led by Andreessen Horowitz, one of the largest US venture capital funds, as more foreign investors aim to capitalise on growth in local technology companies.
Carry1st, which specialises in mobile games and interactive content, raised $20m (R302.56m) through a Series A extension led by Andreessen Horowitz, a Silicon Valley firm cofounded by billionaire investor Marc Andreessen, with more than $16bn under management. The capital raise also saw participation from US investment firm Avenir, and Google.
The capital raise represents Andreessen Horowitz’s first investment in a company headquartered in Africa. Two of the firm’s partners are set to join Carry1st’s board as observers.
Founded in 2018, Carry1st has released games such as Mine Rescue and SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off, and launched its own payments and online marketplace “to better monetise content in the region”. With many people in Africa not having access to formal banking services, the company has differentiated itself by creating a payments system for buying and selling virtual goods using alternative methods, such as mobile payments.
The company says it will use the additional capital “to expand its content portfolio; grow its product, engineering and teams; and acquire tens of millions of new users”.
Carry1st is expanding into game co-development, in which games are created through a partnership involving a number of developers working with larger game studios on original concepts, and “developing the infrastructure to support play-to-earn gaming.”
“In 2021 we launched multiple games and digital commerce solutions achieving really strong growth. Together we can accelerate this growth and achieve our goal of becoming the leading consumer internet company in the region,” said Cordel Robbin-Coker, co-founder and CEO of Carry1st.
The company’s team includes 37 people across 18 countries. The co-founders are based in SA, with the rest of the team located in New York, Kenya, Germany, Egypt, Canada, Switzerland, France, Morocco, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Turkey and Vietnam.
Carry1st aims to capitalise on the growth of gaming in Africa, driven by growing technology adoption and a population of 1.1-billion, mainly comprising young people.
According to research conducted by Carry1st and NewZoo, the number of gamers in Sub-Saharan Africa is set to increase 275% over 10 years, leading to a 728% increase in revenue. Carry1st says it has positioned itself as a go-to partner for international and local mobile game companies looking to grow in the region.
In recent years, local technology start-ups have been attracting increasing attention from international investors aiming to capitalise on the expected African tech boom.
In November, Ozow, a fintech start-up that helps to process online payments, received $48m (R746m) in new funding, led by China’s Tencent. In the same month, Fidelity Management & Research, the world’s fourth-largest asset manager, led a funding round of almost R2bn for Jumo, an SA-based mobile financial services platform primarily offering savings and credit products to entrepreneurs in emerging markets.
Carry1st’s funding round also saw investment from a number of other international investors, including American rapper, songwriter and entrepreneur Nas; the founders of fintech company Chipper Cash, Sky Mavis and Yield Guild Games; Riot Games; Konvoy Ventures; Raine Ventures, and TTV Capital.
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