Aghanim, a mobile gaming fintech company founded by former CEO and CTO of Xsolla, launches to transform how mobile games are monetized and distributed
Company is backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, QED Investors, Point72 Ventures, and A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Aghanim, an integrated commerce, liveops automation, community engagement, and payments platform for mobile games soft-launched today by the former CEO and CTO from Xsolla, a global video game payments company.
Empowering Game Studios with Innovative Solutions
Los Angeles-based Aghanim has built a direct-to-consumer platform that enables mobile game developers to create web-based game hubs and deliver personalized offers, while engaging player communities with a variety of metagame experiences such as news, leaderboards, achievements, daily rewards, and more. Publishers also receive Merchant of Record-level commerce support, meaning that back-office financial tasks related to fraud, taxes, regulatory compliance, currency exchanges, and other aspects of accepting payments on a multinational scale are already handled for them.
Aghanim’s core team has an extensive track record delivering platform-expansion enablement solutions through a variety of video game companies, decades of experience in gaming, and over 20 years’ combined expertise at the intersection of fintech and video games. The company was founded by Konstantin Golubitsky, former CEO and CTO of Xsolla, Constantin Andry, former CEO of Xsolla Labs, and Albert Tugushev, former CTO of Xsolla Labs, who saw an opportunity to fundamentally transform the landscape of mobile gaming by reimagining distribution and monetization strategies, thereby unlocking billions in value for video game studios and ensuring this newfound wealth remains circulating within the broader video game ecosystem, fostering the creation of new games, demand for new technologies, and ultimately making the world a better place.
Aghanim significantly lowered barriers for mobile-to-web expansion for mobile games, helping studios of all sizes to perform direct-to-consumer distribution and multiply their net revenues as a result. With higher margins, game studios can more competitively execute their user acquisition strategies to scale their games.
Introducing Aghanim’s Core Product Suite:
Game Hub Builder: A code-free website creation tool that empowers game studios to establish a captivating web-based home for their mobile games. Within minutes, developers can create a customized game hub that aligns seamlessly with their brand identity. Powered by generative AI, the Game Hub Builder generates an initial version of the hub, allowing studios to fine-tune colors, visuals, and overall user experience.
LiveOps Builder: A groundbreaking visual marketing automation tool that keeps players engaged and excited. With LiveOps Builder, studios can precisely target different player segments across channels. Tailored campaigns and individual offers—triggered by events like cart abandonment, game hub visits, and leveling up—create a personalized experience for players. Messaging channels such as pop-ups, in-game and browser push notifications, and emails ensure seamless communication.
Player Segmentation: A sophisticated system that categorizes players based on behavior, preferences, and engagement patterns. By understanding player segments, studios can tailor their strategies, optimize monetization, and enhance overall game experiences.
SKU Management: Simplifying the management of stock-keeping units (SKUs) for game studios, this tool streamlines the process of tracking inventory, sales, and revenue. With SKU Management Tool, studios can focus on creating exceptional games while leaving the back-office financial work to Aghanim.
Billing Engine: A mobile-first checkout experience, built with an obsession for constant optimization of distribution costs, offers the most valuable payment options, including credit cards, ACH, Apple Pay, and others.
Constantin Andry, co-founder of Aghanim, said in a statement, “In context of shrinking net revenues due to constantly worsening user acquisition environment, and in light of the latest changes in the regulatory space and Apple’s response to these changes, it becomes clear that not having a direct-to-consumer strategy could be an existential threat for mobile game publishers who have historically been too reliant on distribution channels. Studios are now strategically considering having their own standalone game hub rather than web checkout that barely delivers results.”
“Due to the high variety of player profiles and specifics of distribution channels, player segmentation and liveops have become must-have capabilities for every game studio that wants to be competitive in the space. However, they’re often managed somewhat manually from spreadsheets. Since Aghanim is hyper-focused on serving mobile games, segmentation and liveops are built into the very foundation of the platform,” says Albert Tugushev, co-founder of Aghanim.
Aghanim’s conversational analytics is performed by the company’s generative AI copilot, Newton, which proactively searches for anomalies, trends, and growth hacks and suggests improvements based on those findings. “Soon, you will be able to simply task Newton to increase LTV and cut distribution costs, and he will work 24/7/365 to A/B test email messaging, experiment with monetization offers, and run it all through different segments within the available toolset to achieve the best possible result for you.” says Konstantin Golubitsky, another co-founder of Aghanim.
Aghanim is designed as an open platform that welcomes gaming experts, marketing agencies, and gaming tool providers to sign up or complete a pre-integration to become easily accessible to Aghanim partners through their Connectors Marketplace and Experts Directory.
The company will launch an advisory board with key partners to enhance the platform and align priorities.
Aghanim has raised strategic financing from a syndicate of four US-based VC firms: early Shopify investor Bessemer Venture Partners, Point72 Ventures, leading fintech VC firm QED Investors, and from the A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN, a well-known leader in tech x games investments.
About Aghanim
Founded in June 2023, Aghanim is poised to transform the way mobile games are monetized and distributed. For more information, visit Aghanim’s website.
Press Contact: [email protected]
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