Andreessen Horowitz sponsored a $20 million Series A extension for Carry1st, a South African publisher of social games and interactive entertainment across Africa (a16z). This is a16z’s first investment in a company based in Africa (the firm has previously invested in Branch and Zipline, companies with some of its operations in Africa but headquartered in the U.S).
Avenir and Google also invested in Carry1st; this is Google’s second check from its Africa Investment Fund.
Nas, as well as the founders of Chipper Cash, Sky Mavis, and Yield Guild Games, were among the notable individual investors who took part.
The round, which is a follow-up to Riot Games, Konvoy Ventures, Raine Ventures, and TTV Capital’s Series A investment in Carry1st in May, saw the same investors increase their stakes in the company.
David Haber and Jonathan Lai, general partners at Andreessen Horowitz, will participate on Carry1st’s board as observers.
Carry1st was formed in 2018 by Cordel Robbin-Coker, Lucy Hoffman, and Tinotenda Mundangepfupfu. The company, which is located in South Africa and employs 37 people in 18 countries, plans to utilize the new funding to expand its interactive content across Africa.
The company began as a game studio, conceptualizing, developing (from system designs to artwork and engineering), and releasing mobile games. It eventually transitioned to a hybrid model, taking on a publishing role while also handling distribution, marketing, and operations.
Carry1st co-founder and CEO Robbin-Coker told TechCrunch that the company has since primarily focused on its publishing arm.
Tilting Point, publisher of Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off, which Carry1st recently launched in Africa, has signed publishing deals for seven games from six studios worldwide. CrazyLabs and Raketspel, a Swedish studio with over 120 million downloads across its portfolio, are among the others.
Carry1st claims to offer a full-stack publishing solution to its partners, including user acquisition, live operations, community management, and monetization.
“We provide a broad range of services, beginning with distribution and partnerships.” We assist clients in developing customised marketing materials ranging from short-form advertising films to statics, and we tailor their content to appeal to people in different nations,” said Robbin-Coker.
“After that, we run the game and commercialize it.” As a result, we’ve built up our monetization engine to make it easier for people across Africa to pay for the content they want.”
Carry1st claims to offer a full-stack publishing solution for its partners, handling user acquisition, live operations, community management, and monetization.
“We provide a full suite of services, beginning with distribution and partnerships.” “We assist them in creating bespoke marketing materials ranging from short-form advertising videos to statics, and we customize their content to resonate with individuals in different countries,” Robbin-Coker explained.
“And then we run the game and monetize it.” So we’ve built out our monetization engine to make it easier for users across Africa to pay for content they want.”
It also improves monetization in the region with its embedded payment solutions, which allow users to pay using a variety of local payment methods including as bank transfers, cryptocurrency, and mobile money.
Carry1st started its online marketplace for virtual items shortly after finishing its Series A financing. Users of a Carry1st game can buy virtual products including airtime, mobile data, entertainment vouchers, grocery shop vouchers, and gaming currency on this marketplace called Carry1st Shop.
According to the corporation, game income has climbed by 90 percent month over month since the second half of last year. It’s not surprising, given the phenomenal rise of games in terms of both quantity and income (gaming apps accounted for approximately 70% of all App Store revenue last year) on both the Apple and Google app stores since the beginning of the year.
It also improves monetization in the region with its embedded payment solutions, which allow users to pay using a variety of local payment methods including as bank transfers, cryptocurrency, and mobile money.
Carry1st started its online marketplace for virtual items shortly after finishing its Series A financing. Users of a Carry1st game can buy virtual products including airtime, mobile data, entertainment vouchers, grocery shop vouchers, and gaming currency on this marketplace called Carry1st Shop.
According to the corporation, game income has climbed by 90 percent month over month since the second half of last year. It’s not surprising, given the phenomenal rise of games in terms of both quantity and income (gaming apps accounted for approximately 70% of all App Store revenue last year) on both the Apple and Google app stores since the beginning of the year.
It also improves monetization in the region with its embedded payment solutions, which allow users to pay using a variety of local payment methods including as bank transfers, cryptocurrency, and mobile money.
According to Robbin-Coker, the company’s online marketplace is seeing even faster growth, particularly among consumers in South Africa and Nigeria.
On the heels of this revenue growth in its games and marketplace offerings, Carry1st will utilize this capital to expand its content catalog, build its product and engineering teams, and gain “tens of millions” of new customers.
The company said in a statement that it plans to expand into game co-development with studios in order to gain more consumers. It’s also considering constructing infrastructure in Africa to accommodate play-to-earn gaming, which would be its first foray into web3.
It also improves monetization in the region with its embedded payment solutions, which allow users to pay using a variety of local payment methods including as bank transfers, cryptocurrency, and mobile money.
In play-to-earn games, cryptocurrency tokens such as SLP, AXS, and MANA are used. They can be withdrawn to a crypto wallet and exchanged for another cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, or sold for fiat cash to be spent in the real world. Carry1st plans to provide on- and off-ramps (platforms that convert fiat to crypto and back) as well as accept crypto at its marketplace’s point-of-sale.
With its incorporated payment solutions, it enhances monetization in the region by allowing customers to pay using a number of local payment methods such as bank transfers, bitcoin, and mobile money.
Cryptocurrency tokens like SLP, AXS, and MANA are utilized in play-to-earn games. They can be transferred to a crypto wallet and swapped for another cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, or sold for fiat money to be spent in the real world. Carry1st intends to offer on- and off-ramps (platforms that convert fiat currency to cryptocurrency and back) as well as accept cryptocurrency at its marketplace’s point of sale.
These figures show a significantly larger addressable market than Carry1st anticipated four years ago when it debuted. With the company’s convergence at the crossroads of gaming, finance, and web3, there’s a broader range of opportunities to pursue in Africa (as we’ve seen in other growing regions). It’s one of the things that drew a16z’s attention to the company.
In a statement, Haber stated, “We are happy to be making our first investment in an African-based startup in Carry1st, a next-generation mobile games and banking platform.
“We see immense opportunity for the company to mirror outstanding successes we’ve seen in markets like India, China, and Southeast Asia. We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with founders Cordel, Lucy, Tino, and the Carry1st team on their mission to build the Garena of Africa.”
Carry1st appears to have chosen its backers carefully, especially as it wants to expand its gaming, web3, and finance businesses across Africa.
With over $3 billion in assets under management, a16z delivers unrivaled knowledge in gaming and web3. Carry1st will be able to deepen its penetration and engagement in Africa with the support of Google’s goods and phones. At the same time, following its large investment in Flutterwave, Avenir continues to make a strong push in African fintech.
Individual investors include Nas, who has made a number of crypto investments, and the creators of Axie Infinity, which owns the world’s largest web3 game firm.
“It’s a heavyweight group. We’re excited, and we think that their combination will be beneficial for us. Hopefully, it’s a sign that we’re on the right track and this helps drive strategic partnerships for us in the future,” said Robbin-Coker.
