Mistplay Announces Majority Investment by GrowthCurve Capital to Accelerate Growth

Partnership will further accelerate Mistplay as a leading play-to-earn and game discovery platform for mobile games

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mistplay (“Mistplay” or the “Company”), a leading play-to-earn and game discovery platform for mobile games, today announced the completion of a definitive agreement with GrowthCurve Capital (“GrowthCurve”) whereby GrowthCurve will become the majority shareholder in Mistplay to support the Company in its next phase of growth. This partnership marks a new milestone in Mistplay’s mission to deliver differentiated engagement with mobile gamers and provide solutions to help mobile gaming publishers grow their high-quality user bases at scale.

Founded in 2015 by CEO Henri-Charles Machalani and co-founder and COO Eugene Joannides (who joined Henri in 2016), Mistplay partners with mobile gaming publishers to grow their user bases and drive engagement through its game discovery engine and loyalty program, powered by the Company’s advanced machine learning platform. Across its more than 16 million users, Mistplay delivers a differentiated experience to high-value mobile gamers, along with a play-to-earn platform that rewards users for gameplay, creating a mutually beneficial dynamic between game publishers, mobile gamers, and reward partners. Mistplay has been included on Deloitte’s North American Technology Fast 500 list of fastest growing companies and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

GrowthCurve Capital is a control-oriented private equity firm focused on building world-class businesses by leveraging data, analytics, and machine learning, combined with a comprehensive approach to human capital, to accelerate growth and drive value creation. GrowthCurve’s investment will enable Mistplay to further accelerate its AI strategy, support the launch of new business lines, and expand into new markets.

“The hyper growth our team has been able to achieve in the last few years is a testament to our user-centric focus, strong partnerships with world-class gaming studios, and our deep expertise in machine learning,” said Henri-Charles Machalani, Founder and CEO of Mistplay. “GrowthCurve is the ideal partner to support the next phase of the Company’s evolution, and their functional capabilities in AI and human capital, strong network, and expertise in scaling data-rich companies provide a strong foundation for our vision to be the best way to play mobile games for everyone, everywhere.”

“Mistplay is a market leader in the fast-growing play-to-earn mobile gaming industry, with a highly differentiated technology and data platform and substantial growth opportunities. We look forward to partnering with Henri, Eugene, and the rest of the management team to maximize Mistplay’s potential, including delivering GrowthCurve’s data-centric, growth-oriented approach and functional capabilities in AI and machine learning to further accelerate growth,” said Matthew Popper, Head of Financial and Information Services Investing at GrowthCurve.

“Mistplay’s sophisticated platform and unique approach to game discovery and loyalty create a powerful network effect,” said Simon Allan, Vice President at GrowthCurve. “We are excited to partner with this talented team to further unlock the value of the Company’s unique data assets and expand the platform’s capabilities.”

In addition to representatives from GrowthCurve, Andrew Prozes, former CEO of LexisNexis and GrowthCurve Advisory Board member, will join the Board of Directors and serve as Executive Chairman of the Company, helping drive the key strategic priorities for the business. Hubert Larenaudie, former President and COO of mobile game developer Voodoo and senior executive at multiple leading gaming companies, will also join Mistplay’s Board of Directors.

Norton Rose Fulbright served as legal counsel to Mistplay while Davis Polk & Wardwell and Fasken served as legal counsel to GrowthCurve. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Mistplay

Mistplay is a leading play-to-earn and game discovery platform for mobile gamers. Millions of players around the world engage with Mistplay to discover new games and get rewarded while playing. To learn more, visit www.mistplay.com.

About GrowthCurve Capital

GrowthCurve Capital is a private equity firm focused on building world-class businesses by leveraging data, analytics, and machine learning, combined with a comprehensive approach to human capital, to accelerate growth and drive value creation. Founded by Sumit Rajpal, former Global Co-Head of the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, the firm focuses on control-oriented private equity investments primarily across the financial and information services, healthcare, and technology sectors. For more information, please visit www.GrowthCurveCapital.com and follow the firm on LinkedIn.