Goodwater Capital and DCM Back Reforged Labs in $3.9 Million Seed Funding Round for Gaming Video Ads

Goodwater Capital, along with several prominent investors, has joined in a $3.9 million seed funding round for Reforged Labs, an innovative startup specializing in video advertising for the gaming industry. The round is led by DCM and includes contributions from Y Combinator, Epakon Capital, Phoenix Fund, and Asymmetry Ventures, as well as angel investors, including executives from Niantic and Pocket Gems, alongside the founders of King and Sky Mavis.

Robert Huynh, co-founder and CEO of Reforged Labs, highlighted the critical need for effective player acquisition in the gaming sector. “Player acquisition is the lifeblood of any game and the biggest challenge for game studios. Mastering marketing has traditionally been a difficult and unpredictable process, representing the largest expense for developers. We created Reforged Labs to address this challenge,” he explained.

Reforged Labs focuses on video ads, which are essential for user acquisition across all game categories and advertising platforms. While video ads can be highly effective when executed well, gaming companies often struggle with issues like ad fatigue, increasing costs, and the complexities of managing ad experiments.

Currently, many game developers spend weeks creating, measuring, and iterating on each video ad. They often face a tough choice between pulling in-house designers and analysts away from their core tasks or relying on expensive outsourced solutions and cumbersome data tools, neither of which guarantees reliable performance.

Founded in February 2024, Reforged Labs aims to offer a better solution for game studios. With a team of seasoned AI specialists, adtech experts, and veterans from the gaming industry, the company is dedicated to leveraging AI to help developers create engaging video ads that are easy to scale. They believe that a simple, conversational AI product requiring minimal input can significantly enhance studios’ ability to create and optimize effective video ads.

In recent months, Reforged Labs has piloted its AI ad platform with various partners, from emerging founders looking to boost their initial launches to marketing leads at AAA studios using AI to analyze and replicate successful ads. These collaborations have streamlined workflows, drastically reducing the time needed for ideation, storyboarding, and video ad development.

The results from these pilot programs have shown impressive improvements, including a fivefold increase in the speed of ad conception and storyboarding, reduced lag in feedback between designers and marketers, and significantly enhanced click-through rates and return on ad spend (ROAS) for videos generated through the platform.

With the new funding, Reforged Labs plans to expand its technology to more gaming companies and evolve it into a comprehensive solution that serves as an accelerator and co-pilot at every stage of the marketing cycle. Hurst Lin, founding partner at DCM, noted that Reforged Labs distinguishes itself in the AI space by focusing deeply on the gaming industry. “The gaming sector is primed for AI innovation, and Reforged Labs has the right team and technology to lead the way,” he stated.

Reforged Labs is dedicated to transforming the marketing landscape for games and welcomes collaborations with developers to explore potential partnerships and further initiatives.