Turkey's Grand Games secures $70 million in Series B funding.

      Bek Ventures, Laton Ventures, and angel investor Mert Gür have returned, bringing the total funding for the two-year-old studio to $103 million. This funding round comes shortly after Scopely's $1 billion acquisition of Loom Games and CVC's $5 billion deal for Dream Games.

      Grand Games Oyun ve Yazılım, a mobile gaming studio based in Istanbul known for Magic Sort and Car Match, announced on Monday that it has raised $70 million in a Series B funding round led by Balderton Capital’s Growth Fund. Bek Ventures, Laton Ventures, and Mert Gür joined Balderton, which is reinforcing its January 2025 Series A investment.

      With the latest round, Grand Games’ total funding now stands at $103 million. Founded in early 2024 by a team that previously developed Zen Match at Moon Active, Grand Games saw its first commercial title, Magic Sort, reach Apple's top-selling casual gaming charts within six months of its launch. The studio’s second title, Car Match, followed soon after, and by the time the Series A closed in January 2025, the two games were generating a combined gross app revenue of about $4 million per month. The Series B indicates that this revenue growth has persisted, although Grand Games has yet to release updated financial figures.

      This funding round takes place in a Turkish gaming market that has seen a surge of positive M&A news over the past six months compared to other startup categories in the country. In March, Scopely secured a majority stake in Loom Games for over $1 billion, less than a year after the studio's founding. Meanwhile, CVC made a strategic investment in Dream Games, estimated at around a $5 billion valuation. These deals followed Zynga’s earlier $1.8 billion acquisition of Peak Games in 2020, which is credited with revitalizing the Istanbul gaming landscape. Investors are optimistic that mobile-casual studios led by alumni of successful Turkish gaming companies will continue to thrive.

      Grand Games is directly connected to this trend. Last year's $1.3 billion fund from Balderton supported Dream Games in its Series A and is now extending the same belief to its successor. The factors contributing to Turkey’s concentration in mobile gaming are well-known: a rich pool of technical and creative talent stemming from the Peak alumni network, a local cost structure that allows small teams to achieve global-quality production without hefty Western European salary demands, and a regulatory environment currently favorable to gaming companies compared to other sectors.

      Earlier this year, the Turkish government announced it would subsidize half of mobile game development costs through a new incentive program, further spurring startup activity. Bloomberg's coverage of the Grand Games funding round specifically cites this incentive structure as showing signs of success in attracting venture capital.

      Grand Games plans to utilize the funding for typical purposes: hiring, developing additional titles, and spending on user acquisition in high-competition mobile channels for puzzle and casual games. Reports indicate the studio is exploring more titles in the pouring-puzzle and car-customization genres, both of which have shown commercial viability in mobile casual gaming. While competition is fierce, it is manageable.

      Peak, Dream, and Spyke all have similar franchises, and the global market for mobile casual gaming generated approximately $32 billion in 2025 according to Newzoo, with Turkish studios collectively holding a substantial share.

      The metrics underlying this funding round are more aligned with growth-fund standards than traditional venture expectations. Balderton Growth Fund II, raised in 2024 alongside a separate $615 million Series A fund, targets European companies in the Series B to IPO range. Grand Games fits precisely into this stage, and Balderton’s strategy of doubling down on existing portfolio companies is evidenced in other investments like Dream Games, Revolut, and Wayve.

      The unwritten assumption is that firms that generate exceptional early-stage results can also be supported during growth, as long as the metrics continue to be favorable. This approach is particularly effective in mobile casual gaming, where unit economics are typically clear-cut. A studio either has a title that recoups its user acquisition costs within a year or it does not, and Grand Games’ reported revenue growth suggests it does.

      Thus, the Series B represents not just a gamble on a theory but a continuation of success already visible in the public app-store rankings. The valuation for this round has not been disclosed; however, previous Turkish casual-gaming Series B and growth rounds have typically fallen between $400 million and $800 million based on recent transactions and analyst insights.

      What happens next for Grand Games is particularly intriguing. Traditionally, Turkish casual-gaming studios that secure a Series B proceed towards a multi-year journey leading to a strategic acquisition by a US-listed gaming consolidator. In the past six years, companies like Zynga (now owned by Take-Two), Scopely, Playtika, MTG, and Embracer have engaged in such acquisitions.

      The identity of potential