Mobile gaming specialist Playtika has established an investment arm that will put as much as $400m into digital entertainment and consumer online businesses in Israel.
Playtika Growth Investments will target companies that are already profitable or nearing break-even and that have proven business models and products.
Robert Antokol, co-founder and CEO of Playtika, said: “For the past eight years, Playtika has gained unparalleled expertise in how to monetise and grow mobile and web products used by tens of millions of people around the world.
“Sharing that expertise with tomorrow’s Israeli internet leaders will be a powerful differentiator in creating not just Israel’s, but also the world’s, next big internet companies.”
Eric Rapps, managing director of Playtika Growth, said: “Playtika’s operational teams oversee hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing budgets, the processing and analysis of more than six terabytes of data daily, and more than a billion dollars of revenue. They have been instrumental in Playtika’s success from a 10-person start-up to a global market leader with 1,700 employees across 14 offices in 10 countries.
“For the first time, their expertise will be made available to other companies and will help drive exceptional company performance and investment returns.”
In addition to the firm’s operational knowhow, companies will benefit from Playtika’s financial and transactional expertise.
Antokol added: “Understanding how to manage a global business with sophisticated multinational partners is part of the skillset required for Israel to build world-leading companies and not just innovative start-ups. We now offer that knowledge.”
