The mobile gaming industry is huge. If you need proof, look no further than Scopely.
On Wednesday, the Culver City-based company announced that it raised $340 million in its Series E funding round. This comes a year after the company raised $200 million in its Series D round, and seven months since it extended that Series D to raise another $200 million. The company has raised around $990 million since it was founded in 2011, and its valuation reportedly now sits at $3.3 billion — almost double its $1.7 billion valuation from last year.
That’s a lot of money for phone games.
Scopely’s approach often involves mergers and acquisitions with the most successful mobile game studios, and using its massive network to expand into new genres.
“While many in the industry focus on one hit game or one specific genre, we’ve witnessed how Scopely has broken the mold by replicating success time and time again across genres,” Ravi Viswanathan of NewView Capital, an investor in Scopely, said in a statement. “Scopely has proven itself as an acquirer of choice for the world’s most talented game studios — quickly demonstrating its ability to add massive value through its tech platform and powerful publishing infrastructure.”
The company now has a large portfolio of successful mobile games, which often involve popular franchises or adaptations of well-known board games. Some of these games include Star Trek: Fleet Command, Marvel Strike Force, Scrabble Go and Yahtzee With Buddies. Scrabble Go launched in March and reached the No. 1 spot as the most downloaded word game in the world. Meanwhile, Star Trek: Fleet Command was able to reach $100 million in revenue after less than a year on the market.
But the mobile gaming industry is only picking up momentum, and this year the industry has seen rapid growth. This new funding will help Scopely continue its M&A strategy and expansion efforts into new product categories.
“We are at the cutting edge of an industry that continues to grow and evolve at an exciting pace,” co-CEO Javier Ferreira said in a statement. “Our technology platform, market-leading studio ecosystem, and world-class team have empowered us to build one of the most diversified portfolios in mobile games today and develop deeply rewarding, multiyear relationships with our players. We intend to use our significant resources and this new inflow of capital to partner with like-minded teams and creators who want to shape the future of ‘play’ and, together, continue to build a unique company in the gaming space.”
In addition to its LA headquarters, the company has offices in Playa Vista, Barcelona, Boulder, Dublin, London and Tokyo, as well as partners across the world. The company has about 950 employees in total, and is hiring for dozens of roles in the LA area.
