SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Frameplay, the global leader in constructing immersive intrinsic in-game advertising experiences, today announced its $8 million Series A funding round. The financing round was led by Hiro Capital and includes other investors heavily involved in the gaming industry, bringing key strategic value for Frameplay’s long-term growth.
Frameplay is the pioneer in intrinsic in-game advertising, the newest ad context recognized by the IAB US, IAB UK, and MRC. Frameplay aims to provide developers and designers with creative freedom to test the boundaries of advertising technology and bring new sources of entertainment to the video game industry. This new round of investment will allow Frameplay to shape the future of the adtech industry, offering new opportunities for developers, advertisers, and gamers themselves to change the way games are played and monetized.
The round was led by Hiro Capital, the entrepreneur founded venture capital fund for creators in video games, esports, gamified fitness and the Metaverse. Also participating in the funding round is Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, through its corporate venture arm, zVentures. Kona Venture Partners, a video game investment leader in the Asia Pacific region, is also participating.
“Frameplay was founded with a mission of creating gamer-first experiences by seamlessly inserting advertisements without disrupting gameplay,” said Jonathon Troughton, co-founder and CEO of Frameplay. “We are thrilled to have found like-minded investors at Hiro Capital, Razer zVentures, and Kona. Together, these companies are committed to a gamer-first experience, and this funding round will enable us to create a new environment that enhances in-game immersion. Our SDK technology gives developers the ability to optimize the ad placement within their games so it seamlessly integrates with the gaming experience—an approach that has already proven appealing to leading brands and advertisers.”
“Quality brands want to be authentic and they don't want to disrupt a gamer's experience. Equally, many players enjoy seeing real products embedded in games if they are true to life and properly in context," said Luke Alvarez, Founding Partner at Hiro Capital. “Frameplay’s amazing technology is a win win, providing tangible value to advertisers and a seamless experience for the gamer. At Hiro, we believe that Frameplay's platform can scale across multiple brand segments and from Games into the Metaverse.”
Frameplay’s intrinsic in-game advertising solutions provide immersive, digital experiences, often replicating real world experiences, which has become the new standard for video game and future metaverse environments.
“With over three billion gamers around the world and the industry’s rapid growth rate, it is only natural that advertisers want to tap into the evolving gamer demographic,” says Cho Weihao, Senior Director of Investments at Razer. “As a company of gamers ourselves, we know the importance of uninterrupted gameplay and are excited about Frameplay’s innovative way to facilitate in-game advertising without disrupting the gaming experience.”
This commitment has won the trust of several of the world’s largest premium gaming studios and has also allowed Frameplay to exclusively offer its ad serving technology in several of these studios’ most popular games.
“There’s a reason premium game studios trust Frameplay’s technology in their games,” said Taiyoung Ryu, Director at Kona Venture Partners. “Frameplay has taken the time to master their technology, to ensure the game does not break and that creative standards are met. We are excited to see Frameplay’s plan to scale their exclusive inventory across various devices in 2022, allowing advertisers to reach a larger, more significant audience than ever before.”
Frameplay’s technology is trusted by many of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Progressive, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Disney, and Pizza Hut.
About Frameplay
Frameplay is a global in-game advertising leader headquartered in San Francisco, California with worldwide offices and teams supporting NA, EMEA, LATAM, and APAC. Frameplay enables game developers to easily place impactful advertising intrinsically within video game environments without disrupting the gameplay performance or experience. The result is amplified brand exposure for advertisers, additional revenue for developers, and an enjoyable, uninterrupted experience for gamers. For more information, visit www.frameplay.gg.
About Hiro Capital
Hiro Capital is a London / Luxembourg technology Venture Capital fund which invests in UK, US and European innovators in Games, Metaverse Technology, Esports and Digital Fitness. Hiro Capital generally invests at the post-seed Series A and B stages. We invest both in front-end Content creators in Games, Esports and Digital Sports and in deep tech Metaverse applications of Cloud, Mobile, Streaming, Big Data, AI, Wearables, AR and VR technologies. - https://hiro.capital/
About Razer
Razer™ is the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers.
The triple-headed snake trademark of Razer is one of the most recognized logos in the global gaming and esports communities. With a fan base that spans every continent, the company has designed and built the world’s largest gamer-focused ecosystem of hardware, software and services.
Razer’s award-winning hardware includes high-performance gaming peripherals and Blade gaming laptops.
Razer’s software platform, with over 150 million users, includes Razer Synapse (an Internet of Things platform), Razer Chroma RGB (a proprietary RGB lighting technology system supporting thousands of devices and hundreds of games/apps), and Razer Cortex (a game optimizer and launcher).
Razer also offers payment services for gamers, youth, millennials and Gen Z. Razer Gold is one of the world’s largest game payment services, and Razer Fintech provides fintech services in emerging markets.
Founded in 2005, Razer is headquartered in Irvine (California) with regional headquarters in Hamburg, Shanghai and Singapore. Razer has 18 offices worldwide and is recognized as the leading brand for gamers in the US, Europe and China. Razer is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Stock Code: 1337).
About Kona Venture Partners
Kona Venture Partners is a Venture Capital based in Seoul, Korea. Kona Venture Partners has specialty in digital entertainment and content investment. Focusing on the gaming sector, we’ve been continuing to expand our investment sectors to various digital content and related industries such as digital advertisement, Korean webtoon studios, video content on new media platforms. Also, we’re actively seeking investment opportunities that can create synergies with our great content industry network in Asia.
Contact:
SiliconAlleyMedia for Frameplay
Alexandra Levy
650-996-5758
alex@siliconalley-media.com
