The Venture Codex

Participated · Series A · Feb 2020

Tamatem publishes and localizes mobile games to make them culturally relevant for Arabic-speaking users, adapting titles rather than merely translating them. The company has released more than 50 games since 2013, including VIP Baloot, VIP Jalsat, Fashion Queen and Clash of Empire. Tamatem's portfolio has amassed over 120 million downloads and its top games attract about 3.5 million daily active users. The startup has 75 employees and plans to double its headcount in the next six months, with hires planned in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. It has opened offices in Saudi Arabia and Egypt and reports employees across the U.S., India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Hungary and Jordan. Tamatem also plans to launch a gaming academy to train talent and support growth in the regional games industry. Tamatem is a mobile games publisher focused on the Arabic-speaking market in MENA. The company localizes and publishes mobile titles for underserved regional audiences and plans to invest further in marketing for existing titles, including offline events. It recently raised $3.5M in additional funding as an extension of its earlier Series A. Tamatem said it will open an office in Riyadh and launch multiple new titles in 2020. The startup plans to expand beyond Arabic-speaking markets to other emerging and underserved markets worldwide. Founded in Jordan, Tamatem also plans to train and employ more young Jordanians and refugees through workshops targeting over 150 university graduates in 2020. Tamatem creates localised versions of popular mobile games so titles resonate with users in Arabic-speaking countries, adapting text, story elements, graphics and soundtracks. The startup focuses on partnering with international game developers to bring culturally relevant games to the MENA market. It plans to use new capital to close more developer deals and to expand headcount to attract regional talent. Tamatem positions its product against a large market gap: Arabic is the fourth most spoken language while less than 1% of app-store games are available in Arabic. Its localisation of the racing/drifting game Shake the Metal garnered 5 million downloads, cited as evidence of traction. The company was previously backed by 500 Startups and completed an earlier seed round.