BeBopBee raises $4M to build mobile game brands that inspire real-world connections

BebopBee has raised $4 million to build mobile game brands that inspire real-world connections.

The investment comes from Bitkraft Ventures, Courtside Ventures, Andover, and GOAL Ventures. Angel investors participating in the round include Akin Babaygit, cofounder of TripleDot Studios; Affan Butt, founding partner at Aream.co; and Charles Chapman, founder of First Touch Games. The capital will be used to grow the player base and build out the data science and creative marketing teams, all focused on delivering incredible experiences for the audience.

Alongside the investment, BebopBee is announcing the hiring of new key talent to grow data science, liveops, marketing and community team members.

Tess Thormodsgaard, formerly vice president of marketing at mobile entertainment company Seriously, is the company’s new head of marketing.

Founded by former TinyCo, Zynga, and Jam City veterans Rajeev Nagpal and Cristian Zanier, the company is fully focused on its expertly crafted, globe-trotting title Travel Crush. Travel Crush (formerly What a Wonderful World) brings people together across cultures and locations, introducing the audience to a new global destination every month, like in the upcoming “Mayor’s League” where, for the first time, players will compete in the city of Amsterdam. The BebopBee team is also proud to launch Social features like Team Chat with real-time text translations, ice-breakers and sharing of cultural tidbits.

“With our Community-first approach, we are relentlessly pursuing our vision of building billion-dollar IPs that delight our lovely players for decades to come,” said Rajeev Nagpal, BebopBee CEO, in a statement.

Additionally, Robert Parviainen joins as vice president of data science. Previously, he built the data science team at Seriously and has a Ph.D. in Mathematical Statistics from Uppsala University in Sweden.

Completing a triumvirate of Seriously connections, Andrew Stalbow, previously cofounder and CEO at Seriously, joins as an adviser. Seriously was acquired by Playtika in 2019. Stalbow also has prior experience in roles at Rovio, creators of Angry Birds, and 20th Century Fox, where he built the TV and film studio’s mobile business.

“We initially invested in BebopBee in 2021 and have watched them prove that wrapping culture around proven game mechanics can deliver best-in-class results. We are excited to continue backing Rajeev and the team as they push the boundaries of casual mobile forever franchises,” said Scott Rupp, founding general partner at Bitkraft Ventures.

Kai Bond, a partner at Courtside Ventures, said in a statement, “We’ve been incredibly impressed by the efforts of the team at BebopBee, and we’re investing in the company because we believe in their distinct focus of building valuable brands and experiences for their players that stand the test of time.”

BebopBee has open positions in live operations, marketing and data science.