附近上门

In a time when deeply unprofitable companies are going public, it鈥檚 rare and refreshing to hear about startups that are (gasp) actually making money.

Subscribe to the 附近上门 Daily

Mobile game publisher , based in Culver City, Calif., is one of those companies. And today it鈥檚 announced a $200 million Series D round led by that gives it a valuation of $1.7 billion (joining a small group of Los Angeles-based unicorns).

, , , and also participated in the financing. The round brings Scopely鈥檚 since its inception in 2011 to $458.7 million, according to 附近上门 data.

Scopely certainly has seen impressive growth, reaching more than 鈥�$1 billion in lifetime revenue this past summer.鈥� Plus, the Series D values Scopely at $1 billion more than the time of its $160 million Series C in January 2018. So effectively, Scopely says it added $1 billion to its valuation in less than 18 months.

That鈥檚 impressive.

If it鈥檚 making so much money, why the large raise? NewView Capital Managing Partner said Scopely will use its new capital to up its M&A and investment strategy.

鈥淭he M&A space in gaming is heating up,鈥� Viswanathan told me via telephone this morning. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of interesting companies and assets that they can acquire and incorporate into the broad Scopely platform.鈥�

Scopely Co-CEO said in a written statement that the company is 鈥渕ore bullish than ever鈥� on further expanding its portfolio through M&A.

“This funding round adds the financial support to pursue large-scale acquisition opportunities,鈥� Driver added.

The company in particular is looking to enter new categories and/or broaden existing genre portfolios.

Scopely has a good track record. According to Viswanathan, it’s produced six games in a row that are on track to reach or surpass $100 million in gross lifetime revenue, which he said 鈥渋s pretty astounding.鈥�

At the end of 2018, the company added two new games to its portfolio: and, which was created with the recently-acquired out of Ireland. The latter is now Scopely鈥檚 fastest-growing title ever, according to the company.

鈥淕aming is a massive market, worth over $130 billion, and mobile gaming is the fastest-growing piece of it, representing about half,鈥� Viswanathan said. 鈥淚n Scopely, we see significant scale, growth and profitability 鈥� an unusual trifecta. We see a huge market opportunity in front of them.鈥�

NewView of (New Enterprise Associates) in late 2018, raising $1.35 billion for its debut fund. NEA had a small position in Scopely and NewView brought that over when it broke out.

鈥淲e decided to lead this round with a much bigger investment,鈥� Viswanathan said.

Gaming may not be taken seriously by all. But if this round is any indication, maybe it should.

Illustration: