India's Matiks Raises $10M to Expand Its Math and Puzzle Gaming Platform
India-based startup Matiks, which makes a math, logic and memory games app, has raised $10 million in a round led by General Catalyst. The company plans to use the money to scale its platform and enter new markets.
Matiks, an India-based gaming company behind a namesake app of math, logic and brain-puzzle games, announced on Monday that it has raised $10 million in a pre-Series A funding round. The round was led by venture capital firm General Catalyst, and the money is meant to help the startup scale its platform and expand into new markets.
Indian entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala also took part, along with existing investors Info Edge Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partners and Untitled Ventures. In total, the company has now raised more than $13.5 million.
Rapid user growth
The app has existed for two years but gained real traction only this year. According to the company, daily users rose from 22,000 earlier in the year to more than 300,000 by September, when the app also had 2.2 million monthly active users.
Matiks was founded by college friends Sudhanshu Bhatia, Mohan Kumar and Sushant Timmapur. Bhatia, who has a background in competitive mental math, began developing the idea while working at American Express on an anti-money-laundering strategy. He said he wanted to make math games as fun and entertaining as other content.
How the app works
Users can pick from Math, Puzzle, Memory and Logic categories. They first practice against bots and then play real opponents. Challenges and quests let them earn points, maintain streaks and unlock new games.
The company only began testing a subscription this month, offering game analysis, tips and additional features. In-game purchases are also available. Most players are in India, but the startup has seen traction in the U.S., South Korea and Japan, and it plans to localize the app for the latter two.
The company, which has 41 full-time employees, has also launched an experimental game creation platform called Jelo, where users can build games for others to play. Competitors in this area include Google's Playground.
