Donut Lab

Donut Lab is an American computer game developer founded by Green Riding Hood CEO Andrei Gordeev, founders of the mobile ecosystem for Hello Baby parents and pregnant parents Vitaly Urban and Tim Reiter in 2018. The office of the startup is located in San Francisco.

History

2021: Attracting $2.3 million of investments

In mid-December 2021, Donut Lab raised $2.3 million in investments that it intends to spend on the development of its Kids vs Zombies game. The Joint Journey investment office of Sergey Dashkov, the European gaming fund Level Up, Braavo co-founder Sergey Kovalenko, the Flyer One Ventures fund, Green Green founder Dima Morozov and private investors invested in a game studio with Russian roots.

In total, from 2018 to the end of 2021, Donut Lab received a total of $4.4 million in investments from investors. The estimated value of the startup was not disclosed.

Russian game developer Donut Lab raised $2.3 million

In the Kids vs Zombies game, in which the company invests, users fight zombies, trying to avoid traps from rivals - other players. Thanks to this, battles acquire tactical depth, without losing momentum. In some countries, by mid-December 2021, a soft tape (preliminary launch for a limited audience) of the shooter had already taken place. The global release of Kids vs Zombies is scheduled for the beginning of 2022, then the release was originally planned at the end of 2020.

Last [2020], we thought we were very close to the release, "says Tim Raiter, one of the founders of Donut Lab. - However, then we realized that the game is not ready yet. It had a too complex character system - the heroes had to be combined with different weapons and different skills. We decided to simplify the game and completely updated this system. Now this is a completely different game.

The developers also mentioned metrics. By the end of 2021, the retention of the first day at Kids vs Zombies is 55%, and the conversion to payments is 5%.

It is assumed that the funds raised in mid-December 2021 will allow the studio to go to the next stage of development, introduce advanced pumping and mechanics into the game PvP ("player versus player" - approx. Ed.), As well as update the content and add characters.^[1]

2020: Attracting $1.6 million of investments

In mid-September 2020, Donut Lab announced the attraction of $1.6 million in investments. The French venture fund Level Up provided the most money in this round of funding. Data on other investors is not disclosed. Earlier, Wargaming, the founder of the Braavo Capital factoring service Sergey Kovalenko, the Starta Ventures fund and several business angels invested in the startup.

As the founder of Donut Lab Vitaly Urban told Rusbase, the attracted investments are planned to be spent on the preliminary launch of the game Kids vs. Zombie (multiplayer shooter, the events of which unfold in the post-apocalyptic world, where children fight with zombies), which is scheduled for autumn 2020. At the same time, Russia will be one of the first countries where the product will be released. The investments received will also be used for marketing and the global launch of the game in early 2021.

Game developer with Russian roots Donut Lab raised $1.6 million

The main character of the game was to be Danny Trejo. Donut Labs agreed with the actor and used his image in early creatives. However, after the tests, the company came to the conclusion that the presence of a celebrity could negatively affect the prospects of their project.

It was a unique experience of fundraising in the era of the coronovirus pandemic... we are very lucky that the gaming industry during quarantine shows explosive growth. All negotiations went through Zoom, and we have never met with new partners in person, "Donut Lab told the publication.

By September 2020, Donut Lab has more than 20 people.

Notes