Turkey's Circle Games raises $25M Series A led by Tencent

What's the deal? Istanbul-based mobile game studio Circle GamesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised $25 million in a Series A round led by Tencent. Existing backers e2vcDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, BITKRAFTDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, APY VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and a16z SpeedrunDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also joined, lifting the studio's total funding to $32.25 million.

Why now? The raise follows US$4.69M seed round in July 2025, after which CircleDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Games launched its first puzzle title, Sort Express, on the global market. The studio built the game around user experience and data analysis.

What's the endgame? Circle Games plans to use the money to scale Jelly Escape, its recently released game, into new markets while Sort Express keeps growing. It aims to at least double its headcount and expand its portfolio with new mobile titles.

What they're saying: "Sort Express showed us we had the right approach," said co-founder and chief executive officer Göktürk Balıkcı (translated from Turkish). He said Tencent's lead and continued investor backing give the studio resources to make Circle Games "one of the most successful game studios to come out of Turkey."

BITKRAFT partner Jasper Brand said the studio went from a single pre-launch MVP to a live game with eight-figure revenue in just one year. "We saw an ambitious team with exceptional product intuition, audience instinct, and fast production capability," he said (translated from Turkish).

The signal: The round sits in the top 10% of all-time Series A rounds for gaming startups in Turkey, a sign of investor appetite for the country's mobile game talent. Tencent's involvement as lead points to global strategic interest in the region's studios.

Read more: swipeline.co

Image credit: Generated with Gemini