AviaGames, a mobile, skill-based gaming company, on Wednesday said it has received $40m funding from several investors, including ACME Capital, Washington Harbour Partners and Powerhouse Capital.
Hany Nada, co-founder of ACME Capital, joined AviaGames’ board of directors.
California-based AviaGames said some of its previous investors, including Makers Fund and Galaxy Digital, also participated in the round.
Vickie Chen, founder and CEO of AviaGames, said the new capital will be used to accelerate player acquisition, develop new games on the platform, and expand its team and international presence.
According to Chen, AviaGames developed and published the Pocket7Games gaming platform in 2019 with the vision of creating a top global game competition platform that is easy for everyone to play and win cash prizes.
Chen described Pocket7Games is a unified gaming platform with an all-in-one app, as well as a specific game app tailored to specific player communities. The platform features 10+ unique games linked to a single membership and wallet system, allowing players to switch among casino, puzzle, action, card, math and brain games.
Just 18 months after going live, the platform has achieved several growth milestones, including: it “Bingo Clash: win real cash” being No. 1 free casino game in the Apple App Store for the last 4 months, and consistently ranked as top 5 among all free games; more than 100m tournaments hosted monthly; and, more than $400m in prize money distributed in the United States alone
“The majority of competitive games today cater to male audiences and core gamers, and almost all casual games on the market are designed for players to play against AI,” Chen said in a statement. “We know the gaming universe is much broader than that. We aim to provide entertainment value for everyone to enjoy a couple minutes a day to compete with other real players with a more accessible, easy in, easy out approach. Regardless of gender or gaming experience, we are matching people with similar skill sets to engage in friendly competition and get paid for their winning results.”
AviaGames cited market research from GlobalData, which estimated mobile gaming will reach $272 billion by 2021. The company said it saw “massive adoption” during the pandemic as consumers sought entertainment and fun ways to connect with other people. As players were drawn to the skill-based tournament structure and the ability to compete and win cash prizes, Pocket7Games GMV run rate grew 21x to $836 million since January 2020, with players spending an average of 40 minutes on the platform each day.
The company said Pocket7Games assigns every player a “skill value,” or gaming capability. AI is used to accurately match players with similar skill value levels to compete against each other, creating an equal opportunity for each player to win when they compete in the same level of the same game. The platform includes anti-fraud and anti-cheating technology, including full screen recording, in an effort to provide a fair and safe environment to enrich the player experience.
Founded in 2017 by Vickie Chen and Ping Wang, AviaGames today has more than 90 employees. As the company looks to expand beyond the US, it is actively hiring engineers and data scientists, expecting to reach 130 employees by the end of the year.
Hany Nada, co-founder of ACME Capital, said,“Vickie and Ping have incredible gaming experience, are in tune with what consumers want and are creating compelling, interactive games that get people from a wide range of demographics engaged and coming back for more. They are making gaming what it should be: fun, competitive and engaging. They have created an inclusive gaming environment with a focus on long term player engagement.”
