Turkey-based mobile game developer Cypher Games has raised $3.2 million in a seed round led by Play Ventures. The round of funding has seen 500 Global, Next Games, Elite Game Developers founder Joakim Achrén and Akın Babayiğit, an experienced investor.
The studio was founded by five partners; Anıl Şimşek, Tuan Çilingir, Burak Taban, Emir Kocaağa, Mert Can Özcan and Ezgi Balkan. Cypher Games already published a merge mobile game earlier and the young studio aims to grow larger in this area. The founders said one of their main goals is to become a worldwide brand in this area.
The Turkish developer will use the funding to increase their team size by six in the next two years to develop the first casual mobile merge game.
Anil Simsek, one of the founding partners of Cypher Games, said:
“Türkiye’deki mobil oyun yetenek havuzu çok güçlü ve Cypher Games’e katılan her ekip üyesini şirketin uzun vadeli bir ortağı olarak görüyoruz.”
Per Şimşek’s words, the company’s keeping a large number of stocks in the reserves to share them with the new team members they’ll have in the near future. They also want to start a new studio in Berlin soon, and on top of that, they’ll allow each team member to choose in which city they want to work.
Harri Manninen, one of the partners of Play Ventures voiced his opinion about the funding:
“We’re happy to lead Cypher Games’ first funding tour. We’re sure that Cypher Games will become a worldwide casual mobile game studio. Turkey’s mobile gaming ecosystem is extremely strong, and we believe Cypher has the same potential Peak, Dream and Bigger have.”
Enis Hulli of 500 Global also said he believes in the team and continued with:
“Cypher Games’ success story —raising investments from video games focused funds— is the proof that Turkey’s mobile games startup economy can cook up a new unicorn year on year.”
Elite Game Developers’ Joakim Achrén said:
“To this day, I only invested in teams with high potential, and Cypher Games is my first investment in Turkey.”
The Turkish investor Akın Babayiğit said he believes in the team, and added:
“I’m excited to support Cypher Games at the beginning of its journey. There’re no doubts about Turkey becoming a main hub for the video games industry. The team certainly impressed me with their goals and their unbreakable motivation. I believe in them. I feel privileged to be a part of their journey.”
