Social First, a Finnish game developer, has raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Play Ventures and a syndicate backed by Joakim Achrén.
Kim Soares and Mikko Kähärath, both veterans of the games industry, launched Social First in late 2021 to develop social multiplayer games that can be enjoyed for years.
“Social gaming is growing rapidly, and our team is very experienced in creating cross-platform social games with strong communities that enable people all over the world to form friendships that can last a lifetime. Combining that into games that are designed to be played for a decade or more, and taking into account other new and emerging technological possibilities, we saw an opportunity to ride a perfect storm and really make a huge impact in the games industry,” says CEO Kim Soares.
The Social First team comprises industry veterans with a combined 100+ years of experience, with dozens of titles published. The majority of the team has worked together on previous projects, with notable successes at Kukouri, Paradox Interactive, Housemarque, Nitro Games, and Ubisoft.
“We’re thrilled to be backing Kim and Mikko and their impressive team,” says Play Ventures Founding Partner Harri Manninen. “The social games market has grown massively in recent years, with people finding more meaningful connections globally through engaging social gameplay. Social First are approaching this opportunity with decades of know-how and the proven ability to scale cross-platform social MMOs. We believe that Social First will play a major role in defining the next big trend in gaming.”
The Social First team has extensive experience in developing and managing social MMOs across platforms and making games that encourage participation and engagement among the players.
Furthermore, Social First has ambitious goals to create and distribute games that will provide fans of multiplayer games with long-term, meaningful social experiences.
“I’m thrilled to invest in Social First with my angel syndicate. Both Kim and Mikko are exceptional game founders, and it’s awesome to be on this journey with them and giving them all the support that I can”, says syndicate lead Joakim Achrén.
In other news, Kwalee, a UK-based hypercasual game studio, has made its first-ever acquisition by acquiring Tictales for an undisclosed price. Tictales is a mobile game development firm that specializes in narrative-based games.
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