Match-3 group at Turkey’s Dream Games raises $155M at $1B valuation

Turkey has an additional unicorn on its hands. Dream Games has raised $155 million at a valuation of $1 billion thanks to its focus on match-3 casual mobile games.

Istanbul-based Dream Games, a Turkey-based mobile games enterprise, has closed a second insitutional round co-led by Index Ventures and Makers Fund. Other investors incorporated Balderton Capital, IVP, and Kora. The game has more than six million month-to-month active customers. That’s a lot, but the self-confidence that investors have in Dream Games is nevertheless quite astounding, even in gaming’s present investment boom.

The funding is the biggest Series B financing in Turkey and the most current mobile gaming unicorn. A unicorn is a startup with a valuation of $1 billion or more. In March, Dream Games raised $50 million, and in 2018, the enterprise raised $7.5 million.

The round comes on the heels of the enormous good results of Dream’s debut game Royal Match, which reached the top rated-20 grossing games in the U.S., United Kingdom, and Germany in only 3 months.

The next gaming hub?

It’s also an additional massive good results for Turkey in mobile games. That began in 2017, when Peak Games sold its card and board games studio to mobile gaming giant Zynga for $one hundred million. Zynga later opened paid $250 million for Gram Games, the Turkish developers behind hugely well known puzzle titles. Then it acquired all of Peak Games for $1.8 billion in June 2020 and then Zynga paid $168 million for hypercasual game maker Rollic Games. I guess it is a matter of time ahead of Zynga buys Dream Games — if it can afford it.

As for Turkey, Soner Aydemir, CEO of Dream Games, stated in an interview with GamesBeat stated that Turkish entrepreneurs have been inspired by the good results of the mobile game providers, and it is providing young individuals a lot of motivation to start off their personal productive enterprises.

“People want to do impactful and global things,” he stated. “Still, it will take time to make Istanbul into the next gaming hub.”

The enterprise has 50 workers and it is organizing to expand to 75 by the finish of the year. Dream Games’ personal group got began in the genre of match-3 games back in 2014 and the different group members worked difficult and became professionals in their genre, Aydemir stated.

Royal Match became an immediate day-to-day hobby for its players, Aydemir stated. Blending the well known art designs, delightful progression program with accessible match 3 play, the game appeals to a worldwide audience that loves to play games day-to-day on their phones, as aspect of their way of life, he stated.

Aydemir stated that the enterprise is focusing on excellent games that appeal to all players about the world. He stated he is incredibly excited about investors’ self-confidence in Dream Games.

“When we released the first version of Royal Match in March, we saw the potential of the game,” Aydemir stated. “But after we released the game in the U.S., Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom, we didn’t expect that much success. But we saw huge retention and monetization metrics. People love the game. After we saw the growth of the game, we immediately decided to do another round so we do not lose the momentum.”

Michael Cheung, the basic companion at Makers Fund, stated in a statement that the startup has deep genre insight, a laser focus on detail, and excellent group chemistry.

Stephane Kurgan, a venture companion at Index Ventures and former chief operating officer of King, stated in an interview with GamesBeat that the development reminded him of King’s rise with Candy Crush Saga.

Even if match-3 titles appear saturated, there’s often new area for a new one, Kurgan stated.

“It’s been a lot of years since King, and it’s always incremental innovation that can be the most transformational,” Kurgan stated. “Candy Crush was not the first match-3 game, but it was the first to combine the different boosters and create the super booster. As investors, we look at the long-term retention and that’s where this is truly exceptional. And it actually has quality.”

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz