Black female-led video game studio Wicked Saints has raised $3.5 million in a fresh seed round to help the firm expand.
Co-led by Riot Games and Oregon Venture Fund, the financing included a collective of angel investors as well as funds with creativity and deep gaming expertise.
Now armed with funding of $4.6 million, CEO and co-founder Jess Murrey joins a small group of Black women in her industry to raise over $1 million.
According to a news release, the money will be used to launch Wicked Saints’ first title, World Reborn, to market and start a new genre of mobile games that bridges in-game mastery to real-world self-efficacy so Gen Z players can change themselves and their world.
The business reports the new game approach and its connection to Gen Z has sparked interest from both global nonprofits and top brands.
Wicked Saints is a video game studio that employs behavioral technology to empower Gen Z to build real-life skills. In 2021, Pokemon Go maker Niantic rolled out its Black Developers Initiative; Wicked Saints was the first of many teams to join that effort.
Based in Medford, Oregon, Wicked Saints’ founders are both women. The firm reports its C-suite is 75% female, 50% Black, and 75% Queer. It was started in 2019 by Murrey, an Emmy Award-winning storyteller and international peacebuilder turned game designer. The other co-founder is COO Alicia Clifton, a behavior change researcher whose work includes programs with Search for Common Ground.
“Wicked Saints empowers players to believe in and hone their own abilities through immersive storytelling, gameplay, and community,” Murrey said.
Raising the funds was not an easy task. Murrey told TechCrunch the gaming industry is only 2% Black.
“It made raising that much harder as well, because investors tend to invest in what they know,” she said. “I didn’t look anything like the game founders that they’re used to seeing. Not only did I have to overcome preconceived notions of what a game is and what a game can do, but I had to first jump the hurdle of preconceived notions of myself and what I would be able to accomplish with my background.”
Women of color founders receive much less financing than others. Startups founded by women raised 1.9% of venture capital funds last year, down from 2021, TechCrunch reported. And the numbers were measly as well for Black founders overall, who raised only 1% of VC funds.
Wicked Saints is now building World Reborn, an interactive story game with real-life quests facilitated by augmented reality. The game was offered for limited testing in Canada, with plans to offer a teaser next year in the United States. A full launch is planned in 2025.
“We are very encouraged by our small group of super fans from our Canadian pilot. They love the game and feel like we designed it for them…and we did,” said Clifton.
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