Playtertainment, a gaming startup based in Las Vegas, has closed a $5 million funding round to bring classic skill games and mobile technology together.
The funding round was led by SDV Holdings with participation from Mitch Garber; Noel Hayden, founder of Gamesys; Matt Kalish, Jason Robbins and Paul Liberman, founders of DraftKings; Elad Cohen, who co-founded Playtech; Astralis Capital; and Sharp Alpha Advisors. The new capital brings the total funding raised by the startup to $8 million. Lloyd Danzig, Managing Partner at Sharp Alpha Advisors, referred to the round by stating:
“Winner Winner leverages proprietary technology to enable users to play live, physical arcade games from the comfort of their smartphones for the chance to win real prizes. As compelling as the current game offerings are, we are even more excited about the underlying infrastructure that can support a robust content library, as well as skill-based, head-to-head competitions and social tournaments. Jon and Cody have built a company in Winner Winner that is advantageously positioned to provide the bridge between digital and physical worlds that is fundamental to the future of competitive entertainment.”
Playtertainment was founded back in 2019 by Jon Davidman and Cody Flaherty to give mobile gaming a classic twist, which it quickly did by launching “Winner Winner” to provide players with a live video streaming-powered game consisting of real claw machines and ticket redemption-style arcade games. Ever since, the game has been downloaded more than 1.2 million times, allowing the startup to experience more than 30% quarterly growth and shipping over 20k prizes every month.
While the platform is currently limited to players in the United States and the United Kingdom, the startup is planning to expand to new markets next year. Davidman said in this regard:
“We’re really excited about the future. What we’re working on has never existed on a large scale, and we truly believe what we are building will change the way we think about physical games and competition. Through technology, we’re able to create a highly interactive, connected gaming experience that allows players to compete with real, physical games and get rewarded when they win those contests.”
While retro gaming has become an increasingly relevant niche in the gaming industry, Arcade games have been relegated to the use of emulators. By mixing real-life arcade machines with video streaming, Playtertainment is looking to provide players with a means to enjoy and relive the nostalgia of gaming’s early stages while earning rewards.
