Nas has teamed with Google to raise $20 million in financial backing for South African gaming company, Carry1st.
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz led the financing round. Other big names, including Riot Games, Game developer Sky Mavis, and investment firm Avenir also signed on to invest.
Africa is the fastest-growing mobile gaming market globally, driven by a population of 1.3 billion.
“On the back of 96 percent monthly revenue growth, Carry1st will use the additional capital to expand its content portfolio, grow its product, engineering and growth teams, and acquire tens of millions of new users,” the statement said. “Notably, Carry1st is expanding into game co-development, working with leading game studios on original concepts and developing the infrastructure to support play-to-earn gaming.”
Carry1st was founded by Robbin-Coker, COO Lucy Hoffman and chief technology officer Tinotenda Mundangepfupfu.
“We’re excited to partner with this world-class group of investors who, in addition to capital, bring expertise across gaming, fintech, and web3,” said Cordel Robbin-Coker, co-founder and CEO of Carry1st. “In 2021, we launched multiple games and digital commerce solutions achieving really strong growth. Together we can accelerate this growth and achieve our goal of becoming the leading consumer internet company in the region.”
The Queens rapper has been steadily growing his business portfolio.
Nas’ business firm Queensbridge Venture Partners has invested in more than 40 companies, including Coinbase, Genius, DoseDr, PillPack, Genius, Lyft and SeatGeek.
He reportedly netted himself a tidy $40 million after Amazon purchased Doorbell Security company Ring for $1.2 billion. Amazon also acquired the PillPack online pharmacy for $1 billion.
