Panzerdog, a Finnish-Russian mobile gaming startup, has secured a €800,000 seed stage round from Mail.Ru Games Ventures, the games investment division established earlier this year by Mail.Ru Group.
This is the first investment made by the division, which says it has considered “nearly 500 applications” before choosing Panzerdog.
“Mobile games are the main driver of the game market’s growth around the globe and, in particular, in Russia. As mobile devices evolve, game developers have more opportunities for experimental gameplay and mechanics. Mail.Ru Games Ventures is looking for the most ambitious and out-of-the-box ideas how to make mobile games even more entertaining,” said Ilya Karpinsky, Director of Mail.Ru Games Ventures.
Panzerdog will use the funding to complete the development of its first game, Tacticool, and further launch it on the international market. Mail.Ru Games Ventures has also pledged an “all-round support” in terms of internal resources and services.
Founded in 2016 by Russian video games entrepreneur Alexey Sazonov, the studio has been Incorporated and headquartered in Helsinki. However, the company has kept its production offices in two Russian cities, Kaliningrad and Tomsk. Panzerdog currently employs 14 experienced game developers.
Panzerdog touts Tacticool as “an innovative mobile shooter.” This isometric competitive game has “1-minute long 5vs5 matches blending on-foot and vehicular combat.”
Panzerdog had already raised pre-seed funding from Aii Capital, a Finnish family investment company owned by Pekka A. Viljakainen. A prominent Finnish tech entrepreneur, Viljakainen is also an advisor to Russia’s Skolkovo Foundation and the Russian Post.
