[From the industry] Firestoke announce $2.2m seed funding round led by Hiro Capital to publish joyful indie games for a global audience

This is a press release posted in addition to our usual editorial content.

Firestoke, the indie game publisher founded by serial games industry entrepreneur Paul Farley in 2021 today announced its $2.2m/£1.7m/21m kr Seed Funding round. The investment was led by Hiro Capital and includes other investors with a strong gaming and game technology pedigree, adding significant strategic value and extensive networks.

Firestoke aims to bridge the gap between a growing and increasingly diverse global audience who demand games that complement AAA and mobile experiences. Their focus on delivering compact, accessible, social and – most importantly – joyful games for console and PC is driven by a mix of creative inspiration and data driven insights.

The round was led by Hiro Capital, an entrepreneur founded venture capital fund for video games, esports, gamified fitness and Metaverse creators. Also participating in the round are Swedish games investors Behold VC and Scottish technology fund Techstart Ventures.

“It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to work with such proven game-focused investment teams at this early stage of Firestokes journey.” said CEO and Founder Paul Farley. “Each of the investor teams bring huge additional value with complementary skill sets, experience and networks. Most importantly we value many of the same things; creating great games, empowering development talent, building successful businesses and bringing joy and delight to our players.”

“With the backing of Hiro, Behold and Techstart, in addition to our existing funding, our mission is off to a great start!”

The investment will primarily be used to invest in extending the game portfolio, growing the publishing team and equipping that team with the tools and technology to deliver repeatable success.

Sir Ian Livingstone partner at Hiro Capital and games industry legend added “Hiro was built upon the premise that the UK and Europe over-index in games industry talent.  Paul is no exception to this and has proven himself as an extremely capable industry veteran and operator with successful exits under his belt.  We’re delighted to be backing him and the Firestoke team in their quest to champion great games from great developers.”

Firestoke will launch its first titles in late 2022 on both PC and Console platforms. Potential development partners and their innovative games are now sought to bring further joy to players across the world from 2022 and beyond.