About Pocket Gems
Pocket Gems is a Media & Entertainment company based in San Francisco (United States) founded in 2009. Mid-core mobile games are developed by Pocket Gems. Pocket Gems has raised $155 million across 4 funding rounds from investors including Tencent, Sequoia Capital and Michael Dearing. Its website pocketgems.com draws about 14 thousand monthly visits. Pocket Gems offers products and services including Episode, War Dragons, and Upcoming Projects. Its focus areas include Mobile, Mobile Gaming, Game Developers and Mid-Core. Its legal entity is Pocket Gems, Inc. Its competitors include Nexon, Electronic Arts and Glu; 1 of its 3 listed competitors has raised funding.
Company details
Pocket Gems was founded in 2009 in San Francisco, United States, where mobile game development is conducted. Initial efforts centered on casual titles such as Animal Voyage and Runway Life. Strategy has been adjusted toward mid-core games in recent years. War Dragons, a fantasy MMORTS for iOS, was released in April 2015. A 90 million investment was secured from Tencent in May 2017.
- Headquarters San Francisco, United States
- SectorsMedia & Entertainment
- Website pocketgems.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook
- Legal Name Pocket Gems, Inc.
- Total Equity Funding$155M (USD)
in 4 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$90M (USD), Series C
May 2017
- InvestorsTencent
& 2 more
Products & Services of Pocket Gems
Pocket Gems offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Episode, War Dragons, and Upcoming Projects.
Interactive story-based game for user-driven narratives
Strategy game featuring dragon battles and alliances
Future genre-defining games and apps
Apps and channels of Pocket Gems
Pocket Gems publishes 2 mobile apps with over 100M+ downloads.
Funding Insights of Pocket Gems
Pocket Gems has successfully raised a total of $155M across 4 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series C round of $90 million completed in May 2017. 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 $155M
- Total Rounds 4
- Last Round Series C — $90M
- First Round $5M
(Dec 2010)
- Investors Count 3
All 4 funding rounds of Pocket Gems 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2017 | $90M | Series C | – | Tencent | – |
| May 2015 | $60M | Series B | – | Tencent | – |
| Jun 2011 | Series A | – | – | – | |
| Dec 2010 | $5M | Series A | – | Sequoia Capital |
3 investors in total: 2 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in Pocket Gems
Pocket Gems has secured backing from 3 investors, including institutional, venture fund, and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Tencent, Sequoia Capital and Michael Dearing.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sequoia Capital is engaged in venture capital investments. | 1972 | sequoiacap.com | ||
Value-added internet, mobile, and telecom services are provided in China. | 1998 | tencent.com | Shenzhen, China | |
MD Michael Dearing | Angel investor, founder of Harrison Metal, focused on early-stage tech startups. | unknown_cf995096f05d469fb |
Investor details for Pocket Gems
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Pocket Gems
35 people are tracked at Pocket Gems (12 in leadership, 1 in board & advisors, 22 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Ben Liu | CEO | Leadership |
Nick Stanev | VP, Engineering, Live Games | Leadership |
Michael Dawson | Chief Business Officer | Leadership |
Helen Hsu | CFO | Leadership |
Julie Dragland | Director, Business Development | Leadership |
Gurpreet Arora | Head Of Talent | Leadership |
Kenda Bussing | Director, People Operations | Leadership |
Harlan Crystal | CTO & Co-Founder | Leadership |
Savannah Logsdon | Director Independent Contractor | Leadership |
Paritosh Shah | Head Of Mobile Engineering | Leadership |
Maxim Levet | Director Of Data Science And Analytics | Leadership |
Ashik Manandhar | Director Of Engineering | Leadership |
Daniel Terry | Co-Founder & Executive Chairman | Board & advisors |
Wei Fei | Accountant | Team |
David Cen | Manager, Strategic Finance | Team |
Angela Nostrand | Business Development, Episode | Team |
Juan Silva | Staff Engineer | Team |
Kasia Juraszek | People Operations Generalist | Team |
Cecilia An | People Operations | Team |
Jonathan Ho | Software Engineer | Team |
15 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Pocket Gems
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Pocket Gems
3 dated milestones of Pocket Gems across 8 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Pocket Gems is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $5.0M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series C, of $90.0M.
Competitors of Pocket Gems
Pocket Gems has 3 listed competitors in our database, 1 of them funded. They include Nexon, Electronic Arts and Glu.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nexon.com | 1994 | El Segundo, United States | Nexon is recognized as a leading developer of online games. | |||
| ea.com | 1982 | Redwood, United States | 956 | Video game developers focused on core games | ||
| glu.com | 2001 | San Francisco, United States | $8.46M | 254 | Mid-core mobile games are developed and published by Glu. |
Detailed competitors of Pocket Gems
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Pocket Gems
The website of Pocket Gems (pocketgems.com) receives about 14K visits a month.
- Monthly visits14K
▲ 145.2% vs previous month
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Pocket Gems. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tinyco.com | 100% | View details | |||
| digitalextremes.com | 91% | 152.8K | #307,548 | View details | |
activision.jibeapply.com | activision.jibeapply.com | 90% | – | ||
| turbine.com | 90% | View details | |||
gamesdreams.com | gamesdreams.com | 90% | – | ||
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 13 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Pocket Gems
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 13 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in MMORPG & Online Gaming
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Pocket Gems (MMORPG & Online Gaming) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Casual games developer and publisher for mobile and web platforms | 2007 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 525.6 M | USD 49.68 M | 2,916 | |
Provider of cross-platform game engine technology | 1991 | Cary, North Carolina, United States | USD 8.13 B | 11,961 | ||
Mobile games are developed and published by Jam City. | 2007 | Culver City, California, United States | USD 499.49 M |
Unlock complete access to The Company Check
Get unrestricted viewing across everything we track — from companies and brands to investors, funding rounds, acquisitions, financials, and more.
- Unlimited viewing on all profiles Companies, investors, financials, funding, acquisitions & directors
- Full access to every database India & global coverage, advanced filters and rich profile details
- Always-on access from your team account Single premium plan for everything you see on the portal
Related news about Pocket Gems
Complete news archive for Pocket Gems
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
- Source and publication date
- Older coverage
- Brand-specific news history
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Frequently Asked Questions about Pocket Gems
Pocket Gems was founded in 2009 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.
Pocket Gems is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California, United States.
Pocket Gems is a funded company, having raised a total of $155M across 4 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $5M, raised on Dec 2010.
Pocket Gems was founded in 2009 in San Francisco, United States, where mobile game development is conducted. Initial efforts centered on casual titles such as Animal Voyage and Runway Life. Strategy has been adjusted toward mid-core games in recent years. War Dragons, a fantasy MMORTS for iOS, was released in April 2015. A 90 million investment was secured from Tencent in May 2017.
Pocket Gems's top competitors include Nexon, Electronic Arts and Glu.
Pocket Gems offers Episode, War Dragons, and Upcoming Projects.
Pocket Gems has 3 investors. Key investors include Tencent, Sequoia Capital, and Michael Dearing.
Pocket Gems operates through Pocket Gems, Inc..
Yes. Pocket Gems publishes Episode - Choose Your Story and 1 more app, with over 100 million downloads.