45 Soaring Video Games Companies & Startups (2024)
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Pulling in $249.5B in revenue last year, the video game industry is now bigger than the movie and music industries combined.
And there’s still plenty of room for future growth. Analysts forecast that the gaming space will grow to $363.1B by 2027.
This list presents 45 growing video game startups that are disrupting the space.
1. Eneba
5-year search growth: 2,600%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2018
Location: Kaunas, Lithuania
Funding: $9.8M (Series A)
What they do: Eneba is a global gaming marketplace that provides an easy-to-use platform for buying and selling video games. With over 10 million registered users, Eneba offers a wide variety of games from all platforms and regions, digital gift cards, and other gaming-related products. It also offers a loyalty program, allowing customers to earn Eneba Coins that can be used to save on future purchases.
2. FreshCut
5-year search growth: 575%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2020
Location: Los Angeles, California
Funding: $15M (Series B)
What they do: Live streaming gaming’s audience size is expected to hit 1.8B by 2029, with user penetration growing from 17% in 2024 to 22% in 2029. FreshCut is aiming to take the most entertaining clips from live streamers and turn them into short-form clips (similar to TikTok.)
A community token, FCD, is combined with their platform to unlock opportunities for both creators and viewers to “create-and-earn” and “engage-and-earn”.
3. Gaminate
5-year search growth: 6,000%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2019
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Funding: $2.3M (Later Stage VC)
What they do: Gaminate is a gaming supplement brand offering products for energy, concentration, and hydration. Their two primary products, Gaminate Hydration and Gaminate Mental Energy, are made with 12 natural active ingredients and no sugar. The brand has a 4.81 out of 5 stars rating on TrustMate from more than 7,300 reviews.
4. Aimlabs
5-year search growth: 8,100%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2017
Location: New York, New York
Funding: $102.1M (Series C)
What they do: Aimlabs is a free-to-download first- and third-person shooter training platform. The aim trainer has over 29,000 tasks for gamers to complete to strengthen aiming techniques like flicking, tracking, and click timing. The platform is currently used by more than 30 million players on the Epic Games store and Steam.
5. Gamerji
5-year search growth: 9,700%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2018
Location: Ahmedabad, India
Funding: $4.7M (Seed)
What they do: Gamerji is an esports and gaming platform that offers daily tournaments for gamers to win cash, track their gaming stats, and share content. The platform currently supports over 9.5 million users and 27 different game titles, including Clash Royale, Call of Duty, and more. The Gamerji mobile app is available for Android and IOS.
6. Gala Games
5-year search growth: 280%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2018
Location: San Francisco, CA
Funding: $5M (Series A)
What they do: Gala Games is a blockchain-based gaming platform that aims to revolutionize the gaming industry by giving players full ownership and control of their in-game assets. The platform uses blockchain technology to enable players to earn and trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as well as cryptocurrency for their in-game activities. With a range of games in development, Gala Games promises a new gaming experience that is transparent, secure, and rewarding for all players.
7. Voicemod
5-year search growth: 669%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2014
Location: Valencia, Spain
Funding: $23M (Series A)
What they do: Voicemod has brought AI to gaming in a unique way by creating a real-time voice changer and customizable soundboard for gamers, streamers, and content creators. Users can choose from 100+ premade voice filters, over 20,000 custom sound effects, and a content library of more than 100,000 free sound clips.
In November 2023, the startup released a new feature that allows users to create and share new AI voices. Today, Voicemod is used by more than over 40 million users.
8. Itch.io
5-year search growth: 870%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2018
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Itch.io is an online indie video game marketplace. Any new user can create an account to host, sell, and download games and other digital media (comics, music, books, etc.). The platform is free to use, and developers who charge money for their content can choose their revenue share percentage (as low as 0%).
9. Chaos Karts
5-year search growth: 5,300%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2019
Location: London, England
Funding: $766K (Seed)
What they do: Chaos Karts takes on a different angle in the video game industry by offering people a complete augmented reality (AR) experience in the form of a kart game. Seeing as how AR is poised to become “the next level” in the gaming industry, Chaos Karts makes it easy for interested players to play.
Users can simply go to the company facility in London, where they are placed into an AR set that allows them to play the game. The startup’s seed round was invested at a valuation of $3.53M.
10. Wildlife Studios
5-year search growth: 50%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2011
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Funding: $260M (Secondary Market)
What they do: With over 700 employees and over 60 games in their portfolio, the Brazilian gaming heavyweight Wildlife Studios has become one of the 10 largest mobile gaming companies in the world.
Wildlife’s games have wracked up 3 billion downloads to date.
11. Twin Suns
5-year search growth: 75%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2020
Location: Seattle, Washington
Funding: $3.9M (Seed)
What they do: Twin Suns, although founded less than a year ago, has already made a significant impact in the industry. The startup has assembled an all-star team that will work together to regularly release triple-A-rated titles. Halo’s former creative director, Hitman’s executive producer, and a former Gears of War developer are some of the industry veterans leading the new venture.
12. Immersive Gamebox
5-year search growth: 8,300%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2018
Location: London, England
Funding: $45.5M (Debt Financing)
What they do: Immersive Gamebox is an entertainment and live-action gaming company that gives customers access to an interactive smart room. In these digital smart rooms, teams in adventure games together. Some of their top games include Tetris 1991, Squid Game, and Angry Birds. The startup has over 24,500 5-star customer reviews on Google, Yelp, and TripAdvisor.
13. Gameway
5-year search growth: 85%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2018
Location: Tigard, Oregon
Funding: $1.3M (Seed)
What they do: Gameway aims to install entertainment hubs in airports across the US. Specifically, they operate video game lounges where travelers can play games on multiple consoles. So far, the startup has managed to open its centers in 2 different terminals at the Dallas Fort Worth airport.
14. Mino Games
5-year search growth: 5%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2011
Location: Montreal, Canada
Funding: $49.9M (Series B)
What they do: Mino Games is a mobile game studio that creates engaging and visually stunning games with a focus on social play. Their games have been downloaded millions of times and have received critical acclaim for their high-quality graphics, addictive gameplay, and innovative social features. With a team of talented developers and a passion for creating fun and entertaining games, Mino Games is quickly establishing itself as a leading player in the mobile gaming industry.
15. MyDearest
5-year search growth: 1,900%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2016
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Funding: $16.1M (Series C)
What they do: MyDearest is a video game development studio. Sounds like any other video game company, right? Well, MyDearest’s competitive advantage is that it exclusively develops VR games. Although VR gaming is significantly smaller than traditional gaming, it still has an impressive market size of $11.56B.
16. Voldex
5-year search growth: 5,500%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2015
Location: Montreal, Canada
Funding: $3M (Series A)
What they do: Voldex is a metaverse gaming platform that aims to provide a wide variety of games to it's users. The company offers unique gaming concepts and frameworks that can be translated into reality. They currently have over 14 million monthly active users and over 2 billion cumulative plays.
17. PowerZ
5-year search growth: 56%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2020
Location: Paris, France
Funding: $10.7M (Series Unknown)
What they do: PowerZ wants to empower students by improving their learning process. The startup has built a video game designed to teach students math, language, and critical thinking skills. According to PowerZ, the game is ideally suited to children of ages 6 through 12.
18. Rec Room
5-year search growth: 86%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2016
Location: Seattle, Washington
Funding: $294M (Series Unknown)
What they do: Rec Room is a virtual reality gaming platform that allows users to create their own virtual reality spaces and games using its user-friendly tools. Users can socialize with others in virtual reality environments such as virtual clubs and sports games. With its cross-platform capability, users can connect and play with others on various devices including VR headsets, PC, and mobile devices.
19. Series
5-year search growth: 1,011%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2023
Location: Rocklin, California
Funding: $7.9M (Seed)
What they do: Series leverages generative AI to help companies create new video games at a faster rate than the traditional game development process. The startup integrates AI in various ways, including data collection, advanced analytics, and in the Rho Engine (proprietary AI-native game development platform). Released in April 2024, the Rho Engine is the first "AI-native, multi-modal full-stack game development platform" in the gaming industry.
20. Rogue Games
5-year search growth: -33%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2018
Location: Los Angeles, California
Funding: $5.8M (Series A)
What they do: Rogue Games builds and publishes their own games. So far, the startup has released 18 titles, with Swordcar being their most successful one. According to Rogue Games, their $2.5M Series A funding will be used to develop “crazy games.”
21. Tribally
5-year search growth: 7,200%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2023
Location: London, England
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Tribally is a game development and social networking startup for the gaming community. Users can sign up, access games, play with friends, and win real prizes. The company is currently building on numerous blockchains, including Ethereum, Base, and Ronin.
The Tribal Gaming Platform officially launched in November 2023 and grew to 65,000 active gamers by the end of June 2024.
22. Driffle
5-year search growth: 6,400%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2021
Location: Bengaluru, India
Funding: $3.4M (Seed)
What they do: Driffle is an online digital gaming marketplace where gamers can purchase games, gift cards, downloadable content, and more. The platform offers sellers faster payouts and up to 70% lower commission rates compared to other digital marketplaces. Driffle gives sellers direct access to more than 1 million customers in 160+ countries.
23. Defold
5-year search growth: 77%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2020
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Defold is a cross-platform game engine that allows users to develop new 2D and 3D games. Some of the supported platforms include Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and more. The platform is free to use forever.
24. Candivore
5-year search growth: 2,600%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2017
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Funding: $122M (Private Equity)
What they do: Candivore builds PVP-based puzzle games designed for mobile gaming. Their matchmaking system pushes players to bring out their A-game to the table in an effort to earn in-game awards. The VGames-backed startup raised its Series D round at a valuation of $93.84M.
25. Manticore Games
5-year search growth: -50%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2016
Location: San Mateo, California
Funding: $160.8M (Series C)
What they do: Manticore Games is the developer and operator of Core, which is described as a digital playground. Branded as the “portal to the multiverse,” Core is powered by the Unreal Engine and contains what seems to be an endless number of games spanning from FPSs to MMORPGs and everything in between.
26. Metatheory
5-year search growth: -44%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2021
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $25.5M (Series A)
What they do: Led by a team of creators and engineers from Twitch, On Point Creative, and others, Metatheory has zoomed in on Web3 as the fertile land to plant their next seeds for game creation.
Their first game is DuskBreakers, which ties in NFTs with an expansive sci-fi world for players to explore.
27. Mainframe Industries
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2019
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Funding: $28.4M (Series B)
What they do: Mainframe Industries is a Helsinki-based gaming technology startup that creates collaborative, cloud-native game development tools that enable game developers to build, launch, and scale games efficiently. Their platform, The Mainframe, provides an innovative approach to game development, utilizing cloud technology to enable remote collaboration and real-time iteration, reducing costs and accelerating time to market.
Mainframe Industries aims to democratize game development, making it accessible to everyone regardless of location, resources, or expertise.
28. Soulbound
5-year search growth: 78%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2022
Location: Lewes, Delaware
Funding: $3.6M (Seed)
What they do: Many in the gaming community believe that digital ownership of items is going to be an important gaming trend in the near future.
Soulbound is building a comprehensive gamer reputation platform that functions across games, balances item ownership and governance, and allows a player to have one profile across the metaverse.
29. ZeusX
5-year search growth: 99x+
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2020
Location: Singapore, Singapore
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: ZeusX is a digital gaming marketplace used to buy and sell in-game assets, accounts, gift cards, collectibles, top-ups, etc. The platform currently has 1.1 million registered gamers and 5,000+ active sellers across 190 countries.
30. Dapper Labs
5-year search growth: 1,200%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2018
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Funding: $612.5M (Series Unknown)
What they do: Dapper Labs has exploded in notoriety in parallel to the emergent crypto gaming ecosystem. Top games built by Dapper include the NBA’s Top Shot trading card game, UFC’s Strike, CryptoKitties, and other blue chip NFT projects.
At the end of 2021, Dapper Labs was valued at more than $7B. Within 8 months of NBA Top Shot’s launch, the NBA project hit over 1M users and $700M in revenue.
Dapper was named by Fast Company as the Most Innovative Gaming Company of 2022.
31. Overgear
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2016
Location: Nicosia, Cyprus
Funding: Bootstrapped
What they do: Overgear is an online gaming platform where players can trade items in top-rated Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs). According to Michael Koltinov, the company's COO, Overgear has more than 1.5+ million active users.
32. Backloggd
5-year search growth: 9,100%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2019
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Backloggd is a digital platform where games can track, organize, and review their gaming experiences. Users can also rate games they've played and stay up-to-date on what their friends are playing. The platform has tracked more than 14.9 million game ratings and 1.68 million reviews.
33. Inworld AI
5-year search growth: 2,900%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2021
Location: Mountain View, California
Funding: $125.7M (Series B)
What they do: Inworld AI develops AI NPCs that mimic human behaviors for online games. The Inworld Character Engine builds these characters using artificial intelligence and advanced language learning models. As of today, Inworld AI has raised over $125 million after receiving backing from Disney in August 2022.
34. Omeda Studios
5-year search growth: 7,100%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2020
Location: London, United Kingdom
Funding: $22.2M (Series A)
What they do: MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games have soared in popularity since Fortnite, with total revenue exceeding $300M monthly. Omeda Studios has been building Predecessor, a MOBA competitor to mainstays like Valve’s DOTA and Fortnite.
35. Overwolf
5-year search growth: 233%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2010
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Funding: $97.2M (Series D)
What they do: Overwolf is a platform that provides software developers with tools to build, distribute, and monetize in-game apps and mods. With a growing community of over 30,000 developers, Overwolf's technology allows for easy integration with games and provides developers with access to data and resources that enable them to create a wide range of gaming apps. These apps can range from simple overlays displaying real-time game information to advanced mods that fundamentally change the gameplay experience.
36. GameFi
5-year search growth: 2,200%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2013
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: GameFi is a subgenre of decentralized finance (DeFi) that combines blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and gaming. In GameFi, users can earn tokens by playing games or performing other activities within a gaming ecosystem. These tokens can be used to buy in-game items or exchanged for other cryptocurrencies.
37. BeamNG
5-year search growth: 383%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2013
Location: Bremen, Germany
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: BeamNG is a vehicle simulation game that uses soft-body physics to create a realistic driving experience. The game features hundreds of driving missions, campaigns, challenges, and a free-roam mode that allows users to drive at a 1:1 scale. As of May 2024, BeamNG.drive is ranked 23rd on the list of highest-rated Steam games with a 97% score.
38. HYPOTHETIC
5-year search growth: 10%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2021
Location: Los Angeles, California
Funding: $4.5M (Debt Financing)
What they do: HYPOTHETIC is a new startup composed of artists, scientists, and engineers that are aiming to use generative AI to achieve the next generation of 3D graphics for gaming, along with powerful machine learning algorithms.
HYPOTHETIC’s team contains leading neural network, computer science, and machine learning researchers.
39. inSTREAMLY
5-year search growth: 3,300%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2018
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Funding: $1.6M (Seed)
What they do: inStreamly’s business model is simple. Connect the exploding world of gaming streamers to brands looking to advertise. Over 78K streamers are currently partnered with inStreamly, generating over 600 campaigns for 173 brands.
Even more interesting is the fact that streamers who are just getting started can sign “micro sponsorships” to start earning profit from the beginning. inStreamly claims that over 200K have been signed so far.
40. Powder.gg
5-year search growth: 144%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2022
Location: Paris, France
Funding: $20.1M (Grant)
What they do: France’s gaming startup Powder integrates games and lets users automatically save highlights. Powered by proprietary AI technology, Powder saves game clips from popular games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, Call of Duty and more.
Quests are also integrated into these leading titles, allowing players to earn rewards like badges and other unique items.
41. Megarama Games
5-year search growth: 34%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2015
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Founded by a former doctor and a cybersecurity expert, Megarama is a leading developer of mobile casino games on both the App Store and Google Play. Games focus on niche casino slot games, with a variety of different themes and formats.
The Megarama team is fully remote across Asia and Europe.
42. Move.ai
5-year search growth: 700%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2019
Location: London, United Kingdom
Funding: $9.9M (Seed)
What they do: Move.ai captures high-fidelity motion in the real world and ports the same movements into animation in the metaverse.
With applications across gaming, film, movies, and more, Move has been supported by investors including Warner Music Group, Nvidia, and other impressive names in gaming and entertainment.
43. Trak Racer
5-year search growth: 533%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2007
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Funding: Bootstrapped
What they do: Trak Racer is a gaming company that builds racing simulators and gaming accessories. These simulators are realistic and used by the Alpine F1 Team and Alpine Academy professional drivers. Some of their top products include the TR160, TR8, TR8 PRO, TR80, and TR80 LITE racing simulators and the Flight Sim.
44. GEEIQ
5-year search growth: 100%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2018
Location: London, United Kingdom
Funding: $8.2M (Series A)
What they do: GEEIQ’s SaaS platform connects leading brands like Kia, H&M, Porsche, Gucci, and more, with leading esports teams and gaming culture, and the metaverse as a whole.
Brands can use the platform to track campaign data in real-time, check social media followings, and get detailed analytics around a streamer’s viewership.
45. Elixir Games
5-year search growth: 150%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2018
Location: Delaware
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Elixir is similar to the massively popular gaming platform Steam, but focuses entirely on blockchain and Web 3 games. Users can download the app on iOS or Windows, and instantly launch a variety of games across genres.
Conclusion
This concludes our list of fast-growing gaming startups.
As our list demonstrates, even relatively small companies in this industry are designing, developing, and publishing games enjoyed by millions of people worldwide.
As the industry evolves, so do these companies. And we can see that developers are already adapting to new trends by incorporating social-impact features, VR and AR technologies, and the metaverse into their gaming experiences.
