Amman-based mobile games publisher Tamatem raises $3.5 million to expand beyond MENA

Amman-based mobile games publisher Tamatem has raised $3.5 million in a Series A follow-on round, it announced today. The round was led by Wamda Capital, with the participation of Modern Electronics, a subsidiary of Saudi conglomerate Al Faisaliah Group, and North Base Media. This comes almost two years after Tamatem raised its $2.5 million Series A which was also led by Wamda Capital.

Founded in 2013 by Hussam Hammo, Eyad Al Basheer & Sohaib Thiab, Tamatem had originally started as a mobile games developer but pivoted to a publisher in 2016 after building what it says is the largest database of Arabic user downloads in the region.

The startup that claims to be the leading mobile games publisher in the Arabic speaking market now helps international studios and developers to localize and make their games culturally relevant for the Arab gamer.

“Arabic is the 4th most spoken language and yet only 1 percent of online content is available in Arabic. In addition, the region boasts the world’s highest ARPPUs (Average Revenue Per Paying User) presenting a great opportunity for international developers interested in the MENA market,” said the startup in a statement.

Tamatem claims to have served over 75 million downloads and 3.5 monthly active users. The startup after its success in the Middle East & North Africa now plans to expand beyond the region with the aim to publish titles in other emerging and underserved markets in 2020.

The Amman-based game publisher also plans to use a part of this investment to double down on its efforts in the region. It will grow the marketing scale of its existing titles which would also include offline events. They also plan to open an office in Riyadh.

Modern Electronics Company, the subsidiary of Al Faisaliah Group (that’s anchoring the new fund of Wamda’s former managing partner Khaled Talhouni) will help Tamatem set things up and grow its business in Saudi.

“Tamatem will also see a stark increase in the number of titles they work within the region. With multiple titles launching in Q1 2020, the company will leverage its existing data science capabilities and market expertise to compound their dominance in the publishing space and become the region’s premier launching engine for new games,” noted the statement.

Hussam Hammo, the founder and CEO of Tamatem, said, “A lot of startups in the Middle East feel their market potential is limited to this region. I love seeing startups expand beyond those boundaries and I am proud that the team at Tamatem is now looking beyond just the Arabic speaking market. I believe this latest round of funding will allow us to deliver on our vision of becoming the top mobile games publisher for every underserved emerging market in the world.”