Turkish Innovators Grand Games Raise $30M for Their Groundbreaking Magic Sort Technology

Gaming enterprises, particularly those developing casual mobile applications, are currently thriving in Turkey, and today, yet another startup is announcing a considerable funding round just nine months after launching.

Grand Games, the creator behind Magic Sort and Car Match, has secured $30 million in investments — funds that will be utilized to replicate the strategy implemented for its initial two titles: recruit additional talent and establish small groups tasked with owning the development of their individual games.

Bekir Batuhan Çelebi (commonly known as Batu), the CEO and co-founder of Grand Games, stated that while his company employs AI technology to accelerate development, the principle of inspiring its teams and granting them the freedom to execute ideas — modeled after Supercell, the Finnish leader in casual gaming — is what enables the technology to be effective. 

“It is fundamentally about the team culture we are cultivating,” Batu expressed in an interview.

London-based Balderton is steering this Series A round, which also saw participation from prior backers Bek Ventures (previously Earlybird Digital East) and Laton Ventures (which led a $3 million seed investment last year), as well as angel investor Mert Gür. 

Grand Games is not revealing its valuation, but for some contextual understanding: we learned from sources that the round saw oversubscription, with investors vying to participate; this funding represents one of the largest Series A rounds for a gaming startup from Turkey; and notably, less than a month ago, Agave Games announced an $18 million Series A (which Balderton co-led) at a valuation of approximately $100 million. 

One of Grand Games’ projects, Magic Sort, has achieved a position in Apple’s leading casual gaming charts, and collectively, its two titles have generated over $4 million in gross app revenue within the six months post-launch, according to the company.

The fact that Grand Games is successfully raising funds distinguishes it significantly in its category. 

Given that numerous casual gaming startups generate income early in their lifecycle, and often operate on lower cost frameworks compared to larger productions, many of these firms (or independent developers) frequently remain under the radar regarding financing.

Instead, they prefer to bootstrap. In the current rankings for the most popular casual and puzzle games on Apple’s App Store, only a few are backed by venture capital. That list includes Dream Games and Supercell.

Dream Games, which secured $255 million in 2022, is a noteworthy name in this arena. Also originating from Turkey, it is one among a group of firms that emerged from the success of Peak Games, which Zynga acquired in 2020 for $1.8 billion. Peak and Dream have set a high standard for other founders in terms of business expansion, with additional entities in the ecosystem like Tripledot, Spyke (which raised $50 million last year, and started with $55 million), Agave, and Good Job.

Good Job is where the three founders of Grand Games began their journey. Batu, Mustafa Fırtına, and Mehmet Çalım collaborated there before they conceived the idea of launching Grand, as Batu recounted. 

As Batu explains, traditionally in the Turkish gaming scene, game design choices are determined by the founders. While they may be intelligent and ambitious, this methodology overlooks substantial potential. “Really capable, high-caliber people” — their team members — had limited authority over their projects, he mentioned. 

Grand’s strategy was that if they could establish a framework allowing proficient individuals to assume most decision-making responsibilities in groups focused on single titles, it would yield greater productivity, superior games, and ultimately, more satisfied employees. 

The culture that Grand is attempting to embed, Batu stated, has become its “primary differentiator” among gaming firms in Istanbul. 

“It is not an uncommon practice, by the way. Supercell has been implementing it for over a decade, but I don’t believe it is widely recognized in the Turkish gaming sector,” he added.

Grand also heavily relies on AI tools to assist with some of the labor-intensive tasks such as artwork ideation and coding to afford its teams more creative time.

“I typically intervene in merely 5% to 10% of the decisions being made,” Batu noted, referring to the two clusters at Grand. Those instances may involve stepping in if there are significant disagreements that cannot be rectified, or might involve putting a halt to a project that isn’t working out. 

Thus far, as the company is still in its first year, it has encountered few challenges regarding its structure. It has only developed two games, both of which are performing exceptionally well. (Cue investors eagerly approaching the doorway.)

The major inquiry is whether Grand Games can maintain its impressive performance as it recruits more personnel and establishes additional production clusters. Investors are confident that there is a strong likelihood it will.

“Istanbul is producing some of the world’s most exceptional gaming studios, and within that ecosystem, the founders of Grand Games distinguished themselves with their ambition to create world-class casual games that players enjoy,” remarked Suranga Chandratillake, general partner at Balderton Capital, in a statement. “The speed with which they have cultivated a remarkable team culture and achieved success with their initial two titles exemplifies their skill and dedication. We are thrilled to partner with a team exhibiting extraordinary ambition and zeal for gaming.”