Tamatem Raises $3.5 Million in a Series A Follow-Up Round
Amman’s mobile games publisher, Tamatem, raised $3.5 million in a Series A follow-up round. The round was led by Wamda Capital, in participation with Modern Electronics, a subsidiary of Saudi conglomerate Al Faisaliah Group, and North Base Media.
Hussam Hammo, Eyad Al Basheer & Sohaib Thiab co-founded Tamatem in 2013. At first, the startup was a mobile game developer. However, the company shifted into publishing in 2016 after building the largest database of Arabic user downloads in the region.
Gaming in MENA
The MENA region is home to a very active gaming community. Gaming in the region is expected to make $6 billion in revenue by 2021. Additionally, the size of the mobile games market is set to reach $2.3 billion in 2020, according to Statista. Indicating that the market will have more than doubled in size since 2015. Yet the regional mobile gaming market remains severely underserved.
As a result, Tamatem has the golden opportunity to be among the first to invest in culturally relevant mobile games. The startup will also be launching an investment and acquisitions fund, targeted at supporting independent developers and studios. Furthermore, it plans to use a part of this investment to double down on its efforts in the region. Tamatem will also open an office in Riyadh.
Beyond MENA
However, the Amman-based startup is not limiting itself to MENA. “A lot of startups in the Middle East feel their market potential is limited to this region. I love seeing startups expand beyond those boundaries and I am proud that the team at Tamatem is now looking beyond just the Arabic speaking market. I believe this latest round of funding will allow us to deliver on our vision of becoming the top mobile games publisher for every underserved emerging market in the world,” Hussam Hammo, the founder and CEO of Tamatem, says.
Tamatem will use the round to expand its reach to new markets and increase marketing on current titles. The company will also publish titles in Turkey, South East Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Tamatem has published over 40 different games on iOS and Android. It previously raised a $2.5 million Series A round in 2018.
