Mobile game developer based off in Santa Monica, Gamelynx accounted that they have successfully managed to raise over $1.2 million in venture funding to produce more mobile esports titles for the ‘hardcore gamer’ community. Some of the companies that took part in the funding include Y Combinator, Skycatcher Fund, Riot Games and M Ventures.

While the PC esports industry is dominated by giants such as League of Legends, Fortnite, Counter Strike: Go and Dota, the mobile esports playing field doesn’t have nearly enough the flair and is cluttered with small scale MOBAs similar to what is already available on PC. Gamelynx wants to level the playing field somewhat and use the accessibility of mobiles to their advantage.

Over the years video games have become a fundamental part of life and are no longer just a menial source of entertainment they were once considered. The advancement of technology has allowed computers, consoles and mobiles to blur the lines that once set them apart due to technical differences. That is no longer the case because new hardware on mobiles is now considered powerful enough to run competitive games.

Commenting about their success at raising the funds, CEO Alexander Mistakidis said, “Many have tried to build a mobile competitive multiplayer game, but very few have been able to make a game that was already available to play on PC or console.”

As a seasoned entrepreneur, Alexander is no stranger to startup funding, he previously worked on a fitness app called PumpUp which grew from 10,000 users to millions. He then went to work at Riot Games on League of Legends, one of the most popular games in the world. Not only has Alexander learnt a lot, he has gained enough experience about the e-sports industry to know what to bring on the table.

The first milestone for Gamelynx was winning $5,000 in funding at the Velocity Fund $5K Qualifiers where they pitched the idea of a website that allows people to play digital board games with others competitively. The team then found their way into the startup incubator Velocity Garage where they won a further $25,000 at the Velocity Fund Finals. 

Gamelynx will set itself apart by focusing on keeping their games fast paced and light on mobile data to make them more appealing to gamers. Alexander claims on accomplishing all this without spamming players with abusive micro transactions and annoying push notifications. His experience at Riot Games, a company which focuses purely on gameplay, will come in handy.

Alexander believes that the design of most mobile games simply don’t appeal to gamers from a competitive viewpoint. These games are designed to appeal only to the few gamers who are willing to spend money on games to advance to the next level, attain higher level gear and gain favor from the game’s algorithms – these are practices which alienate the paying gamer from the non-paying gamer.

Gamelynx plans to launch their first title sometimes later this year. It is unclear what the business model for their first game would be. It could be free to play with micro transactions, similar to Fortnite, or pay to play.