Jam City Funding, Investors & Competitors

Jam City has raised $625M across 3 funding rounds, most recently a $350M undisclosed-stage round in September 2021.

Last Jam City funding round

$350M

Undisclosed stage · Sep 2021

Cumulative funding Jam City raised

$625M

across 3 funding rounds

Key investors in Jam City

Jam City Overview

About Jam City

Jam City is a Los Angeles-headquartered developer of free-to-play mobile games including Cookie Jam, Panda Pop, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, and Disney Emoji Blitz. The company partners with Hollywood brands such as Warner Bros., Marvel, and Family Guy to produce narrative-driven titles. Jam City maintains studios in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Bogotá, and Buenos Aires. Cookie Jam earned Facebook Game of the Year recognition. Founded in 2009, Jam City focuses on social gaming franchises downloaded across global platforms.


Founded

2010

HQ

United StatesLos Angeles, CA

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2C

Revenue model

Product sales

Jam City Funding History

Jam City has raised a total of $625M across 3 funding rounds.

Jam City's first fundraising round was a $130M undisclosed-stage round in July 2015. The most recent completed round was a $350M undisclosed-stage round in September 2021.

Jam City funding rounds

Jam City funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedDeal Summary
Sep 2021Undisclosed stageFortress Investment Group (lead); Netmarble; Kabam$350MJam City, a leading mobile entertainment company known for high-grossing games, completed the acquisition of mobile game studio Ludia from Fremantle for $165 million on September 8, 2021. In connection with this acquisition, Jam City raised $350 million in a combination of equity and debt financing from Netmarble, Kabam, and affiliates of funds managed by Fortress Investment Group, marking the company's largest funding round to date. Fortress Investment Group acted as the lead investor. The financing supported the Ludia purchase and further strategy to acquire innovative studios globally and invest in existing ones to develop enduring entertainment experiences rivaling Hollywood blockbusters. Ludia, based in Montreal, brings a portfolio of hit mobile games based on licensed IPs including Jurassic World: The Game, Jurassic World Alive, and upcoming DC and Disney titles, complementing Jam City's offerings like Social Gaming Network and studios such as Rainbow Star, Mob Science, Fat Rascal Games, Kiwi Inc., 231Play, and TinyCo. The deal followed the termination of Jam City's planned $1.2 billion SPAC merger with DPCM Capital in June 2021 due to unfavorable market conditions. Prior to the Ludia acquisition, Jam City had secured investments including a $130 million equity round led by Netmarble in 2015 and $145 million in strategic financing in 2019 from a bank syndicate led by JPMorgan and Bank of America. Chris DeWolfe, Jam City's co-founder and CEO, highlighted the synergy between Ludia's game mechanics and Jam City's data science platform. Ian Schnider from Fortress Credit Funds noted the combined entity's strong, diversified mobile games portfolio driven by owned and licensed IP, positioning it as a market leader.
Jan 2019Undisclosed stageBank of America (lead); JPMorgan Chase (lead); CIT Bank; Silicon Valley Bank$145MJam City announced $145 million in strategic financing in January 2019, jointly led by JPMorgan Chase Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, with additional support from Silicon Valley Bank, SunTrust Bank, and CIT Bank. The financing was structured to support the mobile gaming company's acquisition and global growth initiatives as the industry consolidated. The Los Angeles-based company, founded in 2010, had grown to over 650 employees across multiple studios and was positioned as a premier developer of mobile games based on major entertainment properties. Jam City had recently achieved significant success with Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, which became the company's fastest title to reach $100 million in revenue after launching in 2018. The company had also secured a multi-year game development deal with Disney to create mobile games across Disney's intellectual property portfolio, including Pixar, Marvel, and traditional Disney characters, while also developing games around Fox Studio assets like Family Guy. The financing represented the company's largest funding round since its 2010 founding and followed strategic acquisitions in Toronto and other expansion efforts designed to establish Jam City as a global industry consolidator in the rapidly growing mobile games market.
Jul 2015Undisclosed stageNetmarble (lead)$130MJam City, operating as SGN at the time, was a Culver City-based mobile game developer known for freemium casual games like Cookie Jam, Panda Pop, and Book of Life, with over 500 million downloads and positioned as second to King Digital Entertainment in the casual-gaming market. Founded in 2010 by MySpace co-founders Chris DeWolfe and Aber Whitcomb along with Josh Yguado, the company had previously raised $28 million from Austin Ventures and its founders, achieving cash-flow positivity and 300% annual revenue growth over the prior two years. On July 23, 2015, SGN (later rebranded Jam City) secured a $130 million investment from South Korean mobile game publisher Netmarble Games, the largest such investment in a privately held gaming studio in over two years, making Netmarble the largest shareholder. The funding was earmarked for acquiring smaller game studios, expanding into the Asian market, increasing advertising, opening new offices, and boosting international marketing, particularly in Asia, while enabling mutual market expansion—SGN into Asia and Netmarble into the West. Around the round date, SGN projected $280 million in sales for 2015 and expected profit before taxes and interest, positioning it as a potential IPO candidate with consistent earnings. The company had about 200 employees and bases in San Francisco, San Diego, and Buenos Aires.

Who has invested in Jam City?

7 investors have backed Jam City across its funding rounds, including Netmarble, Silicon Valley Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Fortress Investment Group and Kabam.

Lead investors include Fortress Investment Group, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Netmarble.


Jam City Investors

Investors in Jam City by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
NetmarbleSouth KoreaSeoul2LeadJul 2015
CIT BankUnited StatesSalt Lake City, UT1ParticipantJan 2019
Bank of AmericaUnited StatesCharlotte, NC1LeadJan 2019
JPMorgan ChaseUnited StatesNew York City, NY1LeadJan 2019
Silicon Valley BankUnited StatesSan Jose, CA1ParticipantJan 2019

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Acquisitions by Jam City

Jam City has acquired 6 companies to date.

Last acquisition by Jam City was on May 20th 2021. Jam City acquired Ludia for $165M.


Latest Acquisitions by Jam City

Ludia
231 Play
Brainz Games
TinyCo
Description
Ludia is a Montreal-based studio developing and publishing cross-platform mobile games with mass appeal. Its portfolio features licensed titles such as Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Family Feud, Jurassic Park, Press Your Luck, The Price Is Right, Where's Waldo?, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
-
Brainz Games is a Bogotá-headquartered studio crafting narrative-driven mobile games with high production values. Venture capital-backed and prominent in Latin America, it leverages a proprietary Brainztorm full-stack backend for multiplayer features. The multidisciplinary team in Colombia develops original intellectual property through titles acclaimed by critics and players for immersive storyworlds and engaging characters.
TinyCo was a San Francisco-based mobile game developer behind Marvel Avengers Academy and Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff for App Store, Google Play, and Amazon. Active from 2009 until acquisition by Jam City, it specialized in licensed entertainment titles.
HQ CountryCanadaGermanyColombiaUnited States
HQ City
Montreal
-
Bogotá
San Francisco, CA
Deal Date20 May 20214 Apr 201914 Mar 20185 Jul 2016
Valuation$165Mundisclosedundisclosedundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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Jam City Competitors

Jam City competitors include listed companies like Tencent, NetEase, Sea and Roblox, and private ones like Labs and Niantic.

Public and private companies comparable to Jam City
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
TencentChinaChinaPublicly listed$112B$51B$489B4.2x
NetEaseChinaChinaPublicly listed$17B$5.8B$75B3.0x
SeaSingaporeSingaporePublicly listed$23B$2.4B$62B2.0x
RobloxUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$4.9B($1B)$34B4.7x
LabsUnited StatesLos Angeles, CAPrivate--$10B-
NianticUnited StatesSan Francisco, CAPrivate$672M-$9B13.4x

Jam City Public Comps

Jam City is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Tencent, NetEase, Sea, Roblox, Konami, NEXON, Kunlun, Giant Network Group, Square Enix and Krafton.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Tencent$112B$51B4.5x4.2x9.9x9.9x
NetEase$17B$5.8B3.1x3.0x8.9x7.7x
Sea$23B$2.4B2.5x2.0x24.3x16.5x
Roblox$4.9B($1B)6.7x4.7x(32.6x)24.1x
Konami$3.2B$1.1B5.3x5.0x15.2x13.9x
NEXON$3.1B$731M4.0x3.8x16.8x13.5x
Kunlun$1.2B($230M)6.8x5.7x(36.1x)(111.2x)
Giant Network Group$753M$308M8.0x5.0x19.5x9.9x

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Common questions about Jam City

When was Jam City founded?Jam City was founded in 2010.
Where is Jam City headquartered?Jam City is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Is Jam City publicly listed?No, Jam City is a private, VC-backed company.
How much funding has Jam City raised?Jam City has raised $625M across 3 funding rounds.
What was Jam City's last funding round?Jam City's last funding round was a $350M undisclosed-stage round in September 2021, led by Fortress Investment Group.
Who are Jam City's investors?Jam City's investors include Netmarble, CIT Bank, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Silicon Valley Bank, Fortress Investment Group and Kabam.
Which companies are comparable to Jam City?Companies comparable to Jam City include Tencent, NetEase, Sea, Roblox, Labs and Niantic.
How many companies has Jam City acquired?Jam City has acquired 6 companies, including Ludia, 231 Play, Brainz Games, TinyCo and Kiwi.
What was the largest acquisition by Jam City?The $165M acquisition of Ludia in May 2021 is the largest acquisition Jam City has made to date.

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