In September 2015, the GS Venture corporate venture fund (part of GS Group) invested $200,000 US dollars in the Russian startup – 7tons studio. The company has developed and launched Exowar, a multiplayer online game for mobile and social platforms.
The financial support provided by the GS Venture corporate venture fund is aimed at developing 7ton studio's first project – the mass multiplayer online game Exowar, as well as launching new projects. Exowar was released in spring 2015 in VKontakte and My World@Mail.ru social media. Since the game's release, over 200 thousand users have registered. GS Venture has invested 200,000 dollars in the startup. The funds raised will be spent on expanding the team of developers, introducing additional game functionality and launching it on new platforms, including the game platform of the GS Group game console.
Exowar is a three-dimensional online shooter with a vertical camera distributed under the Free-to-play model. The team of game developers for mobile and social platforms from Novosibirsk, Russia – 7tons studio – developed and brought the application to market without attracting additional investment. The financial support rendered by GS Venture will allow the project authors to gain a foothold in this highly competitive market segment and expand their presence in it.
“We are ready to invest in game projects with growth potential, which can be ported to the GS Group game console. The Exowar game performed well at the soft launch stage, and 7tons studio team has a clear vision of the project’s further development. Thanks to the investment from the GS Venture corporate venture fund, the game will be able to enter new platforms and join the game portfolio available for users of our game console”, commented Sergey Filimonov, Head of the GS Venture corporate venture fund.
“With GS Venture, we have the new prospects and opportunities to develop effectively in the highly competitive game industry. Support from a strategic partner, direct access to the audience of a new console solution and reliable support from the fund's experts helped us to focus on elaborating and fixing the KPI’s, which will allow to unlock the full potential of the project”, said Alexey Plotnikov, CEO of 7tons studio.
In 2014, GS Venture invested 200,000 euros in the Finnish startup Tellyo. The Share the Moment service developed by the team, allows just-seen TV moments to be shared in social media with a single click through second screen devices – smartphones or tablets.