UK-based GameStake Technologies, a company focused on rewarded play through their gaming app, has successfully raised £630,000 ($808,000) in seed funding.
GameStake Technologies builds gaming apps that offer rewarded play, where players receive non-monetary real-life rewards such as discounts on shopping. They have also secured a £2.5m “growth facility” from Triple Dragon, a game finance company. With over 50,000 users already acquired for their first app, GameStake Technologies has partnered with companies like Uber and Amazon. Along with this investment, the company has rebranded from GameStake to GameStake Technologies and introduced “GameStake for Business”, which seeks to partner with other companies and support their growth through integration into the platform.
Amit Puri, CEO of GameStake Technologies, expressed his enthusiasm about the investment, stating, “We are thrilled to have successfully raised £630,000 in investment capital and accomplished significant milestones during our fundraising round. The strong support from our investors, the exceptional user growth and engagement, strategic partnerships, and brand ambassadorship all reinforce our position as a key player in the start-up space. These achievements fuel our passion to continue disrupting and innovating, and to provide unparalleled value to our users.”
Rewarded play
Utilizing rewarded play or loyalty programs to build a user base in gaming is not uncommon. Companies like Playstudios have focused on rewarding long-time users to foster player loyalty. Playstudios offers a range of games, including casino-based and more traditional games such as Tetris on mobile, which reward players with real-life perks similar to supermarket loyalty programs.
The challenge lies in creating a platform that offers valuable rewards from recognizable brands to players. Having rewarded play is meaningless if the platform doesn’t include brands that players in the target demographic know or use.
However, GameStake Technologies seems to have a solid foundation based on their metrics. While £630,000 funding may be lower compared to startups backed by established mobile game veterans, it is a feasible amount to expand the platform’s growth since the main focus will be on building brand relationships and promoting their business solution.
New monetization methods, like rewarded play, have been making headlines as developers and publishers seek alternatives to overcome increasing restrictions on attribution that make in-app advertising more challenging. Other companies, such as Bidstack, are exploring intrinsic advertising concepts to make in-game advertising less intrusive and more seamlessly integrated into the game world.