PlayFab raises $7.4m in funding

Backend platform PlayFab has secured $7.4m in a Series A round of funding, bringing the firm’s total investment up to $9.9m.

This round of funding was led by investment firm Benchmark, as well as Madrona Venture Group. Existing investors Startup Capital Ventures, PopCap co-founder Jason Kapalka and Orbitz CEO Barney Harford also contributed.

Founded one year ago, PlayFab has stated it will use the funds to accelerate growth and expand its team of backend engineers.

Meanwhile, Benchmark general partner Mitch Laksy will also be joining the PlayFab board. He boasts more than 20 years of experience in the mobile gaming, new media and interactive entertainment business. He already holds board seats at Snapchat, Thatgamecompany, Meteor Entertainment and more.

"Games depend on live operations now more than ever, but given the backend challenges involved, studios are spending much of their resources reinventing the wheel," said PlayFab CEO and co-founder James Gwertzman. "The capital we’ve raise will allow us to reach a wider set of games studios, build advanced tools and integrate with a growing set of industry partners.

"I’m tremendously excited to have Mitch joining our board. He’s one of the smartest investors we’ve met, and given his extensive experience in mobile gaming, he immediately understood our potential impact in this space."