Web3 video games startup GFAL, also known as Games for a Living, has announced that it has closed a seed funding round with several investors, which include Supercell Ltd and Mitch Lasky, among others. The $3.2 million round builds on the $4.4 million in capital from token pre-sales that the company obtained in 2023 through GFAL’s successful token offering.
The GFAL team includes leadership who had previously held roles at leading industry players, including King Entertainment, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Netflix and Digital Chocolate. The Web3 games studio is on a mission to build innovative, engaging and endless gaming experiences through new video game genres and business models. GFAL’s token, $GFAL, is currently sitting at a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $254,717,017 after one of the most impressive token launches of 2023.
The additional funding will help GFAL expand its core team and accelerate its production plans. The studio will build on the successful soft launch for mobile of the game Elemental Raiders, which took place in March 2023. Elemental Raiders has a growing community of players and is seeing a steady improvement in the performance and the metrics of the game.
Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell, said: “I’ve had the pleasure of working together with the team earlier in my career. We are excited to be part of their journey and see all the great things they’ll achieve.”
Mitch Lasky said: “I’ve been very impressed with the GFAL team’s design-centered approach to Web3 gaming, and I am delighted to join my friends Trip Hawkins and Ilkka Paananen in this financing round to support Elemental Raiders and other titles.”
Manel Sort, CEO of GFAL, said: “We are incredibly grateful for the confidence that Supercell, Mitch, and Heinrich have placed in GFAL. Working on a project alongside Trip and Ilkka, with whom I shared many thrilling and successful years at Digital Chocolate, is a dream come true, and I can’t wait to show the world the high caliber of games we are building.”
“GFAL has really blossomed in the last year,” said Trip Hawkins, a GFAL co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer for the company. “I have incredible respect for Ilkka, Mitch, Heinrich and our team, and this investment proudly gives us a clear imprimatur. We are excited about the coming year and have the resources to deliver and continue our growth.”
Supercell is the leading game developer and publisher of Clash of Clans and other big hits, and Lasky is a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Benchmark and a former entrepreneur and video game executive. Other investors in the round included the former Co-Managing Director of esports giant ESL, Heinrich Zetlmayer; Bonduc Bioscience SL; BCNBCNLVC; and David Fernandez, CEO of Sandsoft. They join existing GFAL investors Bonsai Partners, Nekko Consulting and Inveready, among others.
