Singapore Economic Development Board’s arm invests in Singtel-backed gaming venture Storms

Singapore gaming venture Storms said it has received an undisclosed amount of investment from EDB New Ventures, the corporate venture building arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

Photo credit: Storms

Launched in 2019, the game publisher is also developing social instant gaming platforms monetized through advertising, licensing, and mini-esports tournaments in super apps.

With the fresh capital, the gaming venture will continue to strengthen its management and engineering team in Singapore, multiply its user base, and expand into new markets such as India, Indonesia, and Africa. It will also invest in research and development to advance the technology that supports its mini-esports tournaments.

Storms said it has established a presence in Southeast Asia by partnering with mobile game studios such as Niji Games and AKPublish. Some of its offerings include 3D puzzle game Umbra: Amulet of Light and Zombeast: Survival Zombie Shooter, an offline first-person shooter mobile game that Storms claims has achieved 3 million downloads.

Mobile gamers in Singapore spent over US$397 million on in-app purchases on games downloaded from the App Store and Google Play Store in 2020, said the firm, citing App Annie data.

To expand its presence in the market, Singtel, together with its Thai associate AIS and South Korea’s SK Telecom, announced Storms as its first regional gaming venture in March 2020.

The firms will provide Storms with strategic advice and guidance, leveraging their combined resources of 700 million telecommunications subscribers for marketing initiatives.

Correction (March 17, 3:45 pm): This article originally said that EDB New Ventures was the VC arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board.