Mobcrush raises another $20 million for mobile streaming

Mobcrush has nudged its lifetime funding past $35 million with a $20 million series B round, led by the VC firm Evolution Media.

The round also comprised contributions from existing investors Raine Ventures, Lowercase Capital, First Round Capital and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, which led the company's $11 million series A round in September last year. Mobcrush, which specialises in streaming for mobile games, has now raised $35.9 million since it was founded in 2014.

The California-based company lays claim to a market leading position "mobile first" game streaming and eSports. Popular titles like Minecraft, Clash Royale, Vainglory and Pokémon GO draw in an active user-base that now tops 1 million people, mostly aged between 13 and 24 years-old. Mobcrush claims that almost 5% of that audience are also content creators - more than twice as many as other game streaming platforms.

Mobcrush has made simplicity a cornerstone of its platform, allowing users to start streaming as quickly and easily as possible. This $20 million in funding will be used to continue growing its audience, in terms of both viewers and content producers.

"We think as the market evolves, as mobile devices go faster and the content and mobile games that get released become engaging that we're in a sweet spot," said CEO Royce Disni when he spoke to GamesIndustry.biz last year. "It's the right problem to solve for, it's the right team and right technology."

At that time, Mobcrush had just made a series of impressive hires, including Apple App Store game lead Greg Essig, and Eric Doty, former Xbox community manager and Xbox strategist.