Jordan-based Jawaker $205M Exit Card
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The Jordan-based leading online card game studio Jawaker has just sealed its acquisition deal valued at $205M. The gaming startup was acquired by global gaming studio Stillfront Group further grounding its position and expanding its gaming portfolio in the MENA region.
Founded in 2009, Jawaker is a rooted highly profitable mobile gaming studio in the MENA region, with one of the largest classic PvP gaming apps in the world. The studio focuses on board & card games and other popular games specific to the region. Jawaker has built a strong presence in the fast-growing MENA region, supported by its regional reseller network, which creates a strong competitive advantage and entry barrier.
Acquisitions like these shift gaming industry standards in MENA as Turkey-based Gaming startups gain the lion’s share of funding in Emerging Venture Markets. As recorded in our August 2021 Venture Investment Dashboard, the gaming ecosystem in Turkey has raised the highest number of transactions in 2021 YTD and ranks as the third most-funded ecosystem driven by major deals in startups like Dream Games, Loop Games, and Panteon. This last Exit not only marks a breakthrough moment for the MENA gaming ecosystem but also adds to the stellar 6 Exits in Q3 further crossing the total number of Exits recorded in FY 2020.
The Jawaker app is a single hub for +30 games and allows users to play, connect with friends, join clubs and socialize. The one-app approach bundles a high number of players in one ecosystem, which supports cross-promotion between titles within the app and strengthens retention. Today, more than 50% of Jawaker’s users play two or more different games within the app every week.
This acquisition comes as a pivot moment as Mohamad Hasan, Co-founder, and CEO of Jawaker highlighted “From its humble beginnings 12 years ago, Jawaker has always maintained its belief that steady profitable growth can achieve meaningful results over the long term. The best investment we made over the years was in our culture. This created the environment that unlocked the potential of our truly inspirational team who made Jawaker what it is today. The overwhelming feeling now is one of the new beginnings within the Stillfront family.”
The acquisition of Jawaker will enable significant scaling potential as a part of Stillfront and solidify the company’s strong position in the MENA region. Based on Stillfront’s successful experience from marketing Babil’s games, the group sees a large potential for increasing user acquisition spend in both the MENA region and worldwide within the Arab diaspora. Commenting on the scalability and potential of this new partnership, Stillfront CEO Jörgen Larsson concluded “Stillfront has been active in the MENA region since 2016 and we continue to be impressed by the amazing talents and strong growth that we have seen in the region over the past five years… Jawaker’s expertise in the region is complementary to Babil’s in terms of both genre mastery and regional reach, making them a perfect strategic fit for Stillfront and creating several growth opportunities going forward.”
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