Clan HQ

Our founders have about as much experience in free-to-play gaming as you can have, in addition to a deep history in the gaming industry and have been behind a few start up standouts (Zynga, MySpace). We've identified a key need with some of the most valuable consumers on the planet and are out to win.

Mobile gaming is now the largest segment of gaming ($40B WW) and growing like mad (projected at +26% per year for the next five years). However, it's an industry few understand. Unlike other gaming segments, here, 3% of the players ever pay at all, 1% drive 80% of the revenue, and an incredible .19% drive 50% of the revenue - that means individuals are spending $10,000's of dollars on the games. These whale spenders have shaped the industry.

Essentially the developers that had success first realized if they 1) bought every install they could and 2) overbid for their own whales, where only they know how much a person spends they could create a huge barrier to entry. They did, and the same developers have owned the top 10 for the last 6 years, though they're doing it with razor thin profit margins. Who's the big winner in this scenario? Facebook for one - the #1 player in the mobile-app-install space is making billions off of this process every year, but don't ever let anyone get access to the payers they actually need.

Meanwhile, all the top games have been getting increasingly focused on clan-based play. Game developers realized quickly that if users play because they are counting on each other they play more often, for longer, and pay more. So now users have to network into groups of 30-150 and coordinate constantly to advance, and developers make the gameplay ever more elaborate. You know what never pops to the top of the roadmap? User-love features that don't drive revenue - like clan management and messaging.

So a couple years ago clans starting using third party apps to communicate. Nothing quite fits the needs of this specific group - but the winner is clearly LINE app - a Japanese app that is barely used in the US. They don't like it, but there's nothing else for them (Discord is not good for this either).

We've spent the last year learning exactly how to shape the product these players need, and now we've raised our Series A from Mayfield and Sequoia to go build it with a team ready to take over the world. Come join us!