We have advised BITKRAFT Ventures, the global investment fund for gaming, Web3, and immersive technology, as the lead investor for the $5.7 million seed round by Scriptic (formerly known as Electric Noir Studios). Scriptic is a BAFTA-nominated gaming studio creating immersive narrative mobile games leveraging the power of Generative AI for user-generated games.
Founded in 2016, BITKRAFT Ventures focuses on Seed, Series A, and Series B investments in game studios, gaming platforms, and gaming-related technology. BITKRAFT Ventures was the most active lead investor in gaming in 2020 and 2021 and serves a global portfolio of over 120 forward-thinking start-ups, each contributing to the construction of the virtual worlds and the economies of tomorrow.
BITKRAFT Ventures led this investment round, with participation from Tower 26 and the Amazon Alexa Fund, as well as additional and returning investors (including Vgames, Moonfire and angel investors including Unity founder David Helgason and Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin). This is the second time in a year that Scriptic has raised money, bringing the company’s total seed round to $8.2 million.
The investment will be used to develop and significantly expand Scriptic’s content pipeline, and onboard a community of external writers to the company’s AI-led creator service to build, share, and monetize their own stories. This builds on the success of the company's BAFTA-nominated Dean Man's Phone, which was recently re-released on Netflix as Scriptic: Crime Stories, and in which players become the lead detective in a gritty crime drama, solving murders through victims’ smartphones.
Commenting on the deal, Senior Counsel Richard Faichney said: "This is an exciting investment which brings into focus the significant opportunities around AI, gaming and user generated content. While the technology sector has seen some softening lately, AI and gaming are areas which continue to drive significant investment. As a leading advisor to the global technology sector for decades, and to the gaming sector especially, we are proud to support BITKRAFT on its investments into the world's most innovative businesses."
BITKRAFT Ventures VP Legal Antonio de la Esperanza said: "At BITKRAFT Ventures, we firmly believe in Scriptic’s vision of bringing live-action interactive entertainment to GenZ and Millennial audiences through smartphones. We are excited to back them as they usher in a new category of entertainment blending game mechanics, AI, storytelling, and compelling user-generated content. Taylor Wessing is our long-standing partner, having advised us on numerous investments into exciting gaming and Web3 businesses, and we are once again very thankful to them for their insightful advice and outstanding services."
The team was led by Partner Ross McNaughton and Senior Counsel Richard Faichney. Further support was provided by Associate Miguel Dinis Lucas in the Corporate team, Senior Counsel Katie Lewis in the Tax and Incentives team, and Partner Sian Skelton, Senior Counsel Xuyang Zhu, and Associates Megan Lukins and Laura Craig in the Technology, Intellectual Property and Information team.
