LinQ’s founders unveiled major plans to tap into the growing multi-billion dollar online Real Money Game sector at the end of 2023, following their $1.5 million pre-seed round led by a16z SPEEDRUN. Today, they announced an additional [$2.3] million raise from Drive by DraftKings, Sharp Alpha Advisors, and MiddleGame Ventures alongside a16z SPEEDRUN. The fresh funds will enable LinQ to transition top mobile game publishers into the Real Money Gaming sector.
LinQ is a new platform that enables top mobile game developers to enter the RMG market quickly, securely and at scale. It achieves this by providing a seamless tech stack and deep industry expertise.
LinQ partners with game companies to publish their popular titles, handling all aspects of compliance, operations, matchmaking, geolocation, and native payments. The process typically is very time- and resource-intensive as each country and jurisdiction has different compliance requirements for accepting and making payments.
By integrating LinQ’s turnkey infrastructure, game developers receive several important benefits:
Speed: Real money games will be published as quickly as four weeks.
Low friction: LinQ offers the only natively embedded solution, streamlining the development process.
Scale: The business model is aligned with clients’ success, ensuring mutual growth.
LinQ has already established strong relationships with top global game publishers and formed strategic partnerships with industry giants like Azur Games and Mamboo/My.Games.
“With our innovative scaling strategy and fresh, skill-based gaming approach, we empower users worldwide to leverage their skills and win real money. Thanks to LinQ, this process is not only secure but also remarkably fast and convenient for our customers,” said Ivan Lesh, CEO of Mamboo.
To learn more about the solutions and to contact LinQ directly, please visit: https://linq.gg/
RMG market
The global online RMG market, valued at $13 billion in 2023, is projected to reach $40 billion by 2028. This growth positions RMG as the only expanding category in the gaming industry, making it an ideal market for studios to enter now in order to unlock additional revenue streams.
LinQ’s vision
“Mobile gaming faces challenges, with many once-successful games struggling to maintain net-positive unit economics. While RMG stands out as the only growing category, there is currently no other working solution for top game developers to enter it quickly, except LinQ. We can provide all the tools and the legal support they require,” said Kevin Cubitt, Co-founder at LinQ.
“Our mission is to enable real-life economies in games — with money, assets, transactions, and marketplaces. We believe that our infrastructure offers the building blocks for a new wave that could be even bigger than free-to-play,” confirmed Dmitry Vysotski, Co-founder at LinQ.
“The largest gaming publishers in the world are racing to launch new monetization features but are often hamstrung by complicated, location-specific compliance requirements that are expensive and complicated to adhere to. LinQ provides a turnkey, enterprise-quality, full-stack fintech solution so developers can focus on making great games and retaining customers,” said Lloyd Danzig.
Kanishk Walia, MGV Partner commented “Dmitry and Kevin’s regulatory-first approach, working directly with acquiring partners, not only provides a new way for gaming publishers to unlock additional revenue streams and drive user engagement, but also enables banks and Financial Institutions to tap into the fast growing market for the first time.”
Founders’ backgrounds
Kevin Cubitt, CEO of European regulated lender, led the company to full FCA regulatory approval and a successful exit in 2020. He’s a seasoned investor in multiple global disruptors across tech and blockchain.
Dmitry Vysotski is a tech entrepreneur, repeat founder and angel investor. In 2010, he co-founded Profitero, a leading e-commerce measurement company. Profitero secured $34m+ in funding and grew to 350+ staff and offices globally. It was acquired by Publicis Groupe in 2022 for over $200m.
Venture Capital information
Sharp Alpha Advisors is a venture capital firm specializing in sports, gaming, and entertainment.
Drive by DraftKings is a multi-stage venture capital firm that invests in SportsTech and Entertainment.
MiddleGame Ventures invests in early-stage FinTech, partnering with exceptional European founders from Seed through Series B.