About Playco
Playco is a Media & Entertainment company based in Tokyo (Japan) founded in 2020 by Teddy Cross, Takeshi Otsuka, Michael Maxwell Carter, and Justin Waldron. It operates as a developer of social web games for PC and console. Playco has raised $100 million across 1 funding round from investors including Digital Garage, Buckley Ventures and Sequoia Capital. The company has 69 employees. Playco has completed 1 acquisition, including Game Closure. Playco was last valued at $1 billion in September 2020. Its chief executive is Michael Maxwell Carter. Its website play.co draws about 29 thousand monthly visits. Its focus areas include Gaming, PC & Console Gaming, Game Developers and Web Games. Its legal entity is GAME CLOSURE INC. Its competitors include Playtika, World Golf Tour, Xindong Network, Giant Interactive Group and Forgame and 4 more; 8 of its 9 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Playco was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Social web games for PC and console are developed by the company, with offerings including Sway Stories, Heads Up, and Ask Away, alongside titles such as Trip Royale, Snake Squad, and Cat Life. Operations focus on web-based gaming experiences within the entertainment sector, targeting interactive social play.
- Total Equity Funding$100M (USD)
in 1 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$100M (USD), Series A
Sep 2020
- InvestorsDigital Garage
& 23 more
- Employee Count69
- Investments & Acquisitions
Funding Insights of Playco
Playco has successfully raised a total of $100M through 1 strategic funding round. The most recent funding activity was a Series A round of $100 million completed in September 2020. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $100M
- Total Rounds 1
- Last Round Series A — $100M
- First Round $100M
(Sep 2020)
- Investors Count 24
All 1 funding rounds of Playco with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2020 | $100M | Series A | $1B | Josh Buckley, Sequoia Capital |
| Date | Valuation | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2020 | $1B | •••••••• |
Last known valuation $1B (Sep 2020). 24 investors in total: 24 institutional.
Investors in Playco
Playco has secured backing from 24 investors, including institutional and venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Digital Garage, Buckley Ventures and Sequoia Capital.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sequoia Capital is engaged in venture capital investments. | 1972 | sequoiacap.com | - | |
- | – | kskangel.com | - | |
A community-focused entity is operated for collective impact initiatives. | – | mistletoe.co | Singapore, Singapore | |
Venture capital firm focused on early-stage companies | – | dreamers.vc | Calabasas, United States | |
Venture capital funding for games and interactive entertainment. | – | makersfund.com | - | |
A venture firm based in San Francisco and New York, investments are made in technology companies. | – | caffeinatedcapital.com | San Francisco, United States | |
Venture capital firm focused on multiple sectors | – | sozoventures.com | Redwood City, United States | |
Investments are made in innovative startups by Z Venture Capital. | – | zvc.vc | Chiyoda City, Japan | |
Investments in early-stage biotech startups are made by Formic Ventures. | – | formic.vc | San Francisco, United States | |
Investments in multiple sectors are managed by Cambium Grove Capital. | – | cambiumgrove.com | Hong Kong, China |
Investor details for Playco
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People of Playco
31 people are tracked at Playco (14 in leadership, 17 in team); the tracked headcount is 69.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Teddy Cross | Co-Founder & CPO | Leadership |
Takeshi Otsuka | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Michael Maxwell Carter | Co-Founder & CEO | Leadership |
Justin Waldron | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Michael Carter | Co-Founder & CEO | Leadership |
Buster Zalkind | VP | Leadership |
Amber Freeman | Senior Director Of People | Leadership |
Stephanie Adamson King | Chief Administrative And Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary | Leadership |
Chris Wu | Director, Game Engineering | Leadership |
Tommy Someya | Chief Of Staff | Leadership |
Kyoko K. | EA To Co-founder And President | Leadership |
Sara Jones | VP Of Finance | Leadership |
Alex Chou | Head Of User Acquisition + Marketing | Leadership |
Aaron Bamblett | Director Of Support | Leadership |
Cai Leao | Staff Engineer | Team |
Mattias Öst | Senior Software Engineer | Team |
Michael Piech | EVP Ops | Team |
Erika Son | Recruiting Coordinator Manager | Team |
Minjie Kuai | Exec Office / Operations | Team |
Kenya Uchida | Executive Office / Operations | Team |
11 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Playco
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Investments & Acquisitions by Playco
Playco has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 1 company. Notable acquisitions include Game Closure.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HTML games are distributed via an online development platform. | gameclosure.com | Mountain View, United States | 2010 | – | •••• |
Complete acquisition details for Playco
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Timeline of Playco
3 dated milestones of Playco, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Playco is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $100.0M.
- Milestone Reaches Unicorn status.
Competitors of Playco
Playco has 9 listed competitors in our database, 8 of them funded. They include Playtika, World Golf Tour, Xindong Network, Giant Interactive Group and Forgame, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| playtika.com | 2010 | Tel Aviv, Israel | $1.5M | – | Casual games are developed for mobile and web platforms. | |
| wgt.com | 1995 | San Francisco, United States | $10M | 55 | Golf-focused video games are developed and published independently. | |
| xd.com | 2003 | Shanghai, China | $39.3M | – | Web-based PC games are developed by Xindong Network. | |
| ga-me.com | 2004 | Shanghai, China | $164.33M | – | MMO games are developed by a China-based company. | |
| forgame.com | 2009 | Guangzhou, China | $72.79M | – | Web and mobile games are developed and published in China. | |
| splashmusic.com | 2017 | Brisbane, Australia | $20.12M | – | PC and console musical gameplay is developed with AI instruments. | |
| bombayplay.com | 2018 | Bengaluru, India | $9.5M | 56 | Hybrid casual mobile games are developed and published. | |
| innogames.com | 2007 | Hamburg, Germany | – | 394 | Web & mobile games developer | |
| slide.com | 2005 | San Francisco, United States | $78M | – | Widgets and photo sharing apps are developed for social entertainment. |
Detailed competitors of Playco
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Playco
The website of Playco (play.co) receives about 29K visits a month.
- Monthly visits29K
▲ 41.7% vs previous month
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Playco. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
domainholdingsbrokerage.com | domainholdingsbrokerage.com | 100% | – | – | – |
newsinitiative.org | newsinitiative.org | 64% | – | – | – |
google.com.do | google.com.do | 60% | – | – | – |
search.ask.com | search.ask.com | 60% | – | – | – |
playco.com.au | playco.com.au | 38% | – | #3,719,037 | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 6 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Playco
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- 6 similar websites
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Top companies in Gaming Platforms & Ecosystem
10 companies that operate in the same segment as Playco (Gaming Platforms & Ecosystem), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Digital entertainment, e-commerce, and financial services are provided globally. | 2006 | Singapore, Singapore, Singapore | USD 721.47 M | USD 22.94 B | 3,733 | |
Gaming hardware and accessories are developed for players. | 2005 | Irvine, California, United States | USD 126.27 M | – | 1,981 | |
Provider of cross-platform game engine technology | 1991 | Cary, North Carolina, United States | USD 8.13 B | – | 11,961 | |
VR-based head-mounted displays for gaming are provided by Oculus. | 2012 | Menlo Park, California, United States | USD 107.05 M | – | – | |
ESports social video streaming platform | 2006 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 35.12 M | – | – | |
Microsoft is recognized for software, hardware, and gaming solutions. | 1975 | Redmond, Washington, United States | – | USD 281.72 B | 228,000 | |
Blockchain-based PC and mobile games are developed and published. | 2006 | Kowloon, Hong Kong, China | USD 997.58 M | USD 101.34 M | 307 | |
Custom overlay apps for PC games are developed. | 2009 | Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv District, Israel | USD 149.74 M | – | – | |
Valve Corporation is engaged in gaming, digital distribution, and hardware development. | 1996 | Bellevue, Washington, United States | – | – | 1,855 | |
Unity is recognized as a leading real-time development platform. | 2004 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 893.5 M | USD 1.85 B | 7,102 |
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Related news about Playco
Complete news archive for Playco
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Frequently Asked Questions about Playco
Playco was founded in 2020.
Playco is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is registered at Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Michael Maxwell Carter is the current CEO of Playco. They have also founded this company.
Playco is a funded company, having raised a total of $100M across 1 funding round to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $100M, raised on Sep 2020.
Playco has 69 employees.
Playco was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Social web games for PC and console are developed by the company, with offerings including Sway Stories, Heads Up, and Ask Away, alongside titles such as Trip Royale, Snake Squad, and Cat Life. Operations focus on web-based gaming experiences within the entertainment sector, targeting interactive social play.
Playco's top competitors include Playtika, World Golf Tour and Giant Interactive Group.
Playco has made 1 acquisition, including Game Closure.
Playco has 24 investors. Key investors include Digital Garage, Buckley Ventures, Sequoia Capital, KSK Angel Fund, and Mistletoe.
The valuation of Playco is $1B as of Sep 2020.
Playco operates through Game Closure Inc.