video-games
(9)
Nexus
Nexus is an Austin-based software company that helps video game publishers build and run native Support-a-Creator programs. Its platform gives live service games a 'creator program in a box' - API-driven creator codes, sales attribution, creator storefronts, and managed global payouts and taxes - so studios can reward the streamers and content creators who drive in-game purchases, engagement, and retention. Customers include Capcom, Hi-Rez Studios, and Another Axiom, and the company raised a $10M Series A in January 2023 led by Griffin Gaming Partners.
Justin Sacks
Justin Sacks is the co-founder and CEO of Nexus, an Austin-based platform that helps live service video games build and run 'Support-a-Creator' programs at scale. After 15 years in gaming as a competitive player, content creator, and business development lead, he now builds the infrastructure that pays creators for driving discovery, engagement, and in-game sales for titles like Sonic Rumble, Bloons TD, and Town of Salem.
E-Line Media
E-Line Media is a Phoenix-based video game developer and publisher that builds commercial games with meaningful themes and authentic voices. Founded in 2007 by veterans of Activision and the education world, the studio pairs great artistry with real-world subject matter across three pillars - Voice, Planet, and Society - producing award-winning titles like the Iñupiat-rooted Never Alone and the ocean-exploration game Beyond Blue. Its work spans entertainment, education, and social impact, backed by partnerships with the Smithsonian, BBC, OceanX, and the Cook Inlet Tribal Council.
HiDef, Inc.
HiDef, Inc. is a San Diego-based mobile game studio building social, creative-first games aimed at players of all backgrounds. Founded in 2019 by interactive-entertainment veterans - including game designer Jace Hall, industry operator Anthony Castoro, three-time NBA champion Rick Fox, and former Obama aide Dr. David Washington - the company launched publicly in 2021 with $9M in funding and a mission to make games with meaningful social impact. HiDef partnered with Unity to power its titles and with Snap Inc. to build a Bitmoji-based dance-and-music social game.
Kaedim
Kaedim is a San Francisco- and London-based AI company that turns 2D images and concept art into production-ready 3D models. Founded in 2020 by Konstantina Psoma and Roman Bromidge out of the University of Bristol, it pairs machine-learning tools with an in-house team of artists - a 'human-in-the-loop' approach - to deliver game-ready assets faster and cheaper than traditional outsourcing. Kaedim serves 250+ enterprise studios and thousands of creators, and raised a $15M Series A led by a16z Games in March 2024.
Jabali
Jabali is a generative-AI game engine that lets people build and publish playable 2D and 3D games by describing them in plain language, no coding required. Founded in 2023 by former Meta, Amazon, Zynga and Microsoft gaming executives alongside AI researchers, the company wants to do for game creation what ChatGPT did for writing. It raised a $5M seed round led by BITKRAFT Ventures with Sony Innovation Fund and Sapphire Sport participating, and opened its Jabali Studio platform in early access in October 2025.
Monsarrat - Can You Come Out to Play?
Monsarrat is a Los Angeles-based augmented reality game studio building what it calls the world's first Outdoor RPG. Founded by Johnny Monsarrat - who co-founded Turbine, one of the first MMO companies, later sold to Warner Bros. for $160M - the studio's demo game Landing Party spreads an entire fantasy world across any real-world park or open space instead of pinning one creature to a GPS point. Backed by seven-plus patents, a ~12-person team, and an advisory board of former PlayStation, Blizzard, Niantic, and Lucasfilm executives, Monsarrat pitches outdoor gaming as an antidote to a loneliness epidemic - a reason to walk outside and play.
Spellbrush
Spellbrush is a San Francisco generative AI studio building anime games and AI tools for artists. The team behind niji・journey - the anime model co-developed with Midjourney - and games like Arrowmancer, Cake Duel, and Waifu Labs. A Y Combinator W18 alum led by Cory Li, focused on using deep learning to help human artists create high-quality anime visuals.
Gilman Louie
Gilman Louie is a fourth-generation Chinese-American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and national security strategist who built the CIA's venture capital arm In-Q-Tel from scratch, co-founded Alsop Louie Partners, and now leads America's Frontier Fund — a nonprofit deep-tech investment vehicle aimed at securing U.S. technological leadership against China. Before any of that, he was the video game pioneer who brought Tetris to the West and built the Falcon F-16 flight simulator so realistic it trained actual Air National Guard pilots.