South African gaming startup, Carry1st secures $2.5 million series seed round led by CRE Venture Capital.

South African gaming development startup, Catrry1st has secured a Series Seed round of US$2.5 million led by CRE Venture Capital.

Other investors that participated in the round include; Perivoli Innovations, Chandaria Capital, Lateral Capital, Transsion’s Future Hub, Kam Kronenberg III and others.

This investment brings the company’s total capital to $4.0 million.

Carry1st is the leading mobile games publisher and interactive content platform serving the first generation of African smartphone users.

CEO of Carry1st, Cordel Robbin-Coker said, “Social gaming is the largest and fastest-growing form of mobile media, grossing more than three times all other app categories combined. Our mission is to bring this world of interactive content to Africa and likewise to connect Africa to the world.”

“Our belief is that building a local publisher, with differentiated tech and operating capabilities across marketing, distribution, and monetization is the way to be this bridge. We are pleased to partner with CRE and our investor group to accelerate this vision,” Robbin-Coker added.

Carry1st wishes to use the investment to speed up the growth of the African mobile content market, which is already projected to increase by 400% over 5 years.

Partner at CRE, Pardon Makumbe said, “We are excited to partner with the world-class team at Carry1st to take the pain out of distributing and monetizing games across Africa. The continent is young, vibrant, and mobile-first — by focusing on the building blocks, we believe Carry1st is well-positioned to define the category and catalyse the development of the industry for Africa’s over 1.3 billion consumers.”

The startup plans to partner with international studios to launch multiple games in 2020 and grow its audience to over a million monthly active users.

Carry1st VP of Operations, Lucy Hoffman also stated, “It’s really exciting to be part of developing a new industry in an emerging region. In doing so, we will stimulate thousands of jobs and drive digital inclusion. When people come online for the first time, they want to connect with people and have fun. In these unusual times we are reminded of the power of games to delight, to educate and ultimately to unite.”

Since the startup launched in 2019, it has reached over 1.5 million users across the region.

Also, Carry1st Trivia has been ranked the number 1 free-to-play Android game in Nigeria and Kenya and was named the Best Media & Entertainment Solution for 2019.

Carry1st was founded by Cordel Robbin-Coker , Lucy Hoffman, and Tinotenda Mundangepfupfu in 2018.