Sony invests In South African Gaming Startup Carry1st

Sony has invested in Carry1st, a South African gaming startup, via its venture arm, the Sony Innovation Fund, to explore new commercial opportunities in collaboration with the PlayStation maker.  Despite the details of the partnership being unclear at this stage, it represents a significant development in the early stages.

Carry1st’s CEO and co-founder, Cordel Robbin-Coker, disclosed that discussions with Sony Innovation Fund began approximately eight or nine months ago. He emphasized that Africa is emerging as the next major territory for video game sales, underscoring Sony’s investment as a major bet on the African video game market’s potential growth, which has seen a rapid pace, even as global sales slowed post-pandemic.

Carry1st is a mobile games publisher serving the first generation of African smartphone users, which has so far reached millions of users across the region with games such as Mine Rescue and SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off. The startup has also launched a proprietary payment and online marketplace to better monetize content. The startup now develops and publishes its own games and connects local studios with international operators while handling customer acquisition, distribution, licensing, and monetization.