Carry1st, a South African mobile game firm, has acquired a $20 million Series A extension round from Andreessen Horowitz, Avenir, and Google to help it expand across Africa.
Carry1st is a mobile games publisher located in Cape Town that serves the first generation of African smartphone users. With games like Mine Rescue and SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off, Carry1st has reached millions of players across the continent. To effectively monetize content, the company has also established a proprietary payments and online marketplace.
Carry1st secured $6 million in Series A investment in May of last year, and it has now announced a $20 million extension headed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
a16z, founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests at all stages and manages US $28.2 billion in assets across numerous funds. Carry1st is the company’s first foray into Africa.
Avenir and Google, as well as a number of significant angel investors, including Grammy winner and famed crypto investor Nas, as well as the creators of Chipper Cash, Sky Mavis, and Yield Guild Games, participated in the round. Riot Games, Konvoy Ventures, Raine Ventures, and TTV Capital are among the investors who backed Carry1st in its May 2021 Series A round.
“We’re excited to partner with this world-class group of investors who, in addition to capital, bring expertise across gaming, fintech, and web3,” said Cordel Robbin-Coker, co-founder and CEO of Carry1st.
“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.”
Carry1st will use the additional funds to expand its content offering, build its product, engineering, and growth teams, and recruit tens of millions of new users, thanks to a 96 percent monthly revenue growth. It’s also branching out into game co-development, collaborating on creative concepts with major game companies, and building the infrastructure to enable play-to-earn gaming.
Andreessen Horowitz general partner David Haber expressed his joy at the firm’s first investment in a startup based in Africa, Carry1st.
“We see an 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,” he said.
