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Radar · Gaming in Palo Alto

Best Gaming Companies in Palo Alto, United States

The 31 best Gaming companies in Palo Alto, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Mega Matrix Corp.

31companies tracked
$896.5Mdisclosed funding
0unicorns
21have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · GAMING × PALO ALTO

Our analysis of 71 Gaming companies

$20.0b in tracked funding; 97% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.

71companies analysed
97%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
8unicorns
2019median founding year

Ranked: Best Gaming companies in Palo Alto

#CompanyDisclosed fundingLast roundStageFounderEmployeesTech stackPatents & IP focusRecent signals
1Mega Matrix Corp
Provider of a game-based investment platform for NFTs
55Funding top 22%Talent top 38%Global bottom 37%
All 3 signals ▾
Fundingtop 22%
Talenttop 38%
Globalbottom 37%
Funding: Raised $364M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 4 yrs (0.8/yr)
Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated
rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 55/100
$364M46 mo agoPublicYucheng Hu
CEO & Chairman
————
2Machine Zone
Mobile game developer
$263M147 mo agoAcquiredMike Sherrill
Co-Founder
542WordPressApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+17118 patents
Scalable real-time messaging infrastructure with chat analytics and emoticon recommendation.
—
3Playdom
Video Game developer for Mobile and Web platforms
$76M196 mo agoAcquiredRick Thompson
Founder & CEO
496—2 patents
Location-based virtual worlds and cross‑platform avatar manifestation for social gaming
—
4OnLive
cloud-based gaming solution provider
$56M189 mo agoAcqui-HiredSteve Perlman
Founder & CEO
80—352 patents
Adaptive video compression and streaming technologies for cloud gaming platforms
—
5Stardust
Provider of a developer platform for blockchain gaming
$35M48 mo agoSeries ACanaan Linder
Founder & CEO
40———
6Kiwi
Mobile Entertainment Company
$24M147 mo agoAcqui-Hired—44———
7Buildbox
Drag and drop game engine
$20M69 mo agoAcquiredTrey Smith
Founder
24———
8Joyride
Developer of mobile games and related multimedia franchise building services
$14M55 mo agoSeed—83SentryReactGatsby+12——
9Teleporter
Developer of virtual reality experiences focused on gaming and social interaction
$12M40 mo agoSeries C—8———
10Lucra Sports
Provider of P2P sports betting platform
37Funding top 26%Growth top 28%Moat top 39%Product top 46%
All 9 signals ▾
Fundingtop 26%
Growthtop 28%
Moattop 39%
Producttop 46%
Talentbottom 49%
Techbottom 47%
Globalbottom 37%
Customersbottom 29%
Marketbottom 21%
Funding: Raised $11.6M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 5 yrs (0.8/yr)
Growth: Web rank 50,000,000 → 10,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo
rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 37/100
$12M6 mo agoSeries BDylan Robbins
Founder & CEO
6BootstrapGSAPAmazon Web Services+21——
11Chobolabs
Instant play gaming company connecting billions through accessible, social games
$9M140 mo agoSeries ADeyan Vitanov
CEO & Founder
————
12Corona Labs
Cross-platform game development framework provider
$5M167 mo agoAcquired—13WordPressMySQLPHP+26——
13Punch Entertainment
Exploring AI, tech, and future trends through insightful blog posts
$3M210 mo agoAcqui-HiredTobin Lent
ex-CEO & Founder
23———
14Tapulous
Mobile Games developer focusing on Casual Games
$2M220 mo agoDeadpooled—20———
15Tactical Haptics
Haptic game controllers for VR, games & healthcare
$1M119 mo agoSeed—2—8 patents
Tactile haptic interfaces and grasp sensors for immersive VR/AR controller systems
—
16MyMiniLife
AI-powered platform to launch automated news sites with unique content
$430K—DeadpooledSizhao Yang
CEO
————
17MiCMALi
Mali's Ministry of Industry and Commerce promotes industrial and commercial development
$180K154 mo agoDeadpooledSakuya Morimoto
Founder & CEO
————
18Hyper
Provider of tools for online sales, payments, and community building
$125K62 mo agoSeedBen Botvinick
Founder & CEO
14—10 patents
AI-driven OCR and multilingual script recognition for document image processing
—

Top 12 Gaming companies in Palo Alto

#1
Series B · Palo Alto, California · founded 2019 · 6 employees
$11.6Mraised
▾

Lucra Sports is a provider of P2P sports betting platform. It provides a peer to peer platform for sports fans to compete with their friends and earn real cash awards. They offer features such as player updates,statistics,spread and odds.

Fliar Intelligence Index™ 37how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 26%
Growth
top 28%
Moat
top 39%
Product
top 46%
Talent
bottom 49%
Tech
bottom 47%
Funding: Raised $11.6M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 5 yrs (0.8/yr) · Last round Series B (Apr 2026)
Growth: Web rank 50,000,000 → 10,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo
Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 7/10 · 9 curated direct competitors tracked
Audience (LinkedIn): 4k LinkedIn followers — 54.3% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 product launches · 1 partnerships (incl. John Daly) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • Apr 2026Series B$20M
  • Dec 2024Series A$10M
  • Mar 2022Series A$10M
  • May 2021Seed$1.6M
Founders & team
Dylan RobbinsFounder & CEO
Investors
Raptor Group, Toy Ventures, SeventySix Capital, Visible Ventures, 7GC, ARK Investment Management
Tech stack
Amazon CloudfrontAmazon S3Amazon Web ServicesBootstrapCdnjsCloudflare
#2
Public · Palo Alto, California · founded 1997
$363.7Mraised
▾

Provider of a game-based investment platform for NFTs. It uses blockchain technology to invest in NFTs with a play-to-earn business model. The players are rewarded with various NFTs. It is also a marketplace, players can extract and sell their earned NFTs.

Fliar Intelligence Index™ 55how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 22%
Talent
top 38%
Global
bottom 37%
Funding: Raised $364M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 4 yrs (0.8/yr) · Last round Post IPO (Dec 2022)
Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated
Global: Serving 2 countries incl. Singapore, United States
Funding rounds
  • Dec 2022Post IPO—
  • Oct 2022Post IPO$4.4M
  • Jul 2017Conventional Debt$170M
  • Conventional Debt$189.3M
Founders & team
Yucheng HuCEO & ChairmanYucheng HuCEO
#3
Acquired · Palo Alto, California · founded 2008 · 542 employees
$263.4Mraised
▾

Developer of mobile games designed to offer entertainment in multiplayer experiences. The company's games offer a live global data ecosystem which breaks down linguistic and geographic barriers by uniting an unprecedented number of global players in one gaming world, enabling users to have fun, as well as challenge and compete globally.

Founders & team
Mike SherrillCo-FounderGabriel LeydonCo-FounderHalbert NakagawaCo-Founder
Investors
JPMorgan Chase, Menlo Ventures, Baseline Ventures, Anthos Capital, Y Combinator, Hercules Capital
Tech stack
CdnjsCloudflareFont AwesomeGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Font ApiHttp/3
#4
Series A · Palo Alto, California · founded 2018 · 40 employees
$35Mraised
▾

Provider of a developer platform for blockchain gaming. It enables game developers to create and manage NFTs within games and build games in the metaverse platform.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 4k LinkedIn followers — 45.7% of this cohort's audience
Activity: 1 partnerships (incl. Tenjin) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • Oct 2022Series A$30M
  • Sep 2021Series A$5M
Founders & team
Canaan LinderFounder & CEO
Investors
Framework Ventures, Distributedglobal, G1 Ventures, Lattice Capital Management, Maven 11, Red Beard Ventures
#5
Series C · Palo Alto, California · founded 2018 · 8 employees
$12Mraised
▾

Developer of virtual reality experiences focused on gaming and social interaction. The company is dedicated to creating immersive realities. It develops high-quality experiences. The company focuses on redefining social interaction and gaming. It offers a fantasy-themed virtual reality chess game.

Funding rounds
  • Jun 2023Series C—
  • Nov 2021Series B$12M
Investors
Collective Spark, Arya Women, Maxis, Galata Business Angels, Innogate, StartersHub
#6
Acquired · Palo Alto, California · founded 2008 · 496 employees
$76Mraised
▾

Playdom is a video game developer for Mobile and Web platforms with a focus on mid-core games. The company primarily utilizes a freemium model to offer its games across iOS and Android platforms. It was acquired by Disney Interactive Media Group in 2010 and is developing and releasing games that leverage the franchises under Disney, such as the game Marvel: Avengers Alliance based on the Marvel Avengers franchise.

Funding rounds
  • Jun 2010Series A$33M
  • Nov 2009Series A$43M
Founders & team
Rick ThompsonFounder & CEO
Investors
New Enterprise Associates, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Norwest, Steamboat Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Pritzker Group
Tech stack
WordpressMysqlPhpHello ElementorRankmath SeoElementor
#7
Acqui-Hired · Palo Alto, California · founded 2002 · 80 employees
$56.5Mraised
▾

Onlive is a cloud-based gaming solution provider of the server-based video game processing. Its solution allows games to run without game consoles or high-end computers. Offers its product known as "OnLive Desktop", which is a subscription service offering a cloud-based instance of Windows Server 2008 R2 accessible via tablets.

Funding rounds
  • Feb 2011Series C$40M
  • Sep 2009Series C—
  • Oct 2007Series B$16.5M
Founders & team
Steve PerlmanFounder & CEO
Investors
Warner Bros, Maverick Ventures, HTC Corporation, AT&T, Lauder Partners, Autodesk
#8
Seed · Palo Alto, California · founded 2016 · 83 employees
$14Mraised
▾

Developer of mobile games and related multimedia franchise building services. The company focuses on creating engaging user experiences through fresh technologies. It aims to revolutionize how players interact with digital characters and in-game items. The company builds media franchises powered by games and community.

Funding rounds
  • Mar 2022Seed$14M
Investors
Coinbase-ventures.com, Animoca Brands, Solana Ventures, Dapper Labs, BITKRAFT Ventures, Mirana
Tech stack
CloudflareGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Font ApiGoogle Hosted LibrariesGoogle WorkspaceHsts
#9
Acquired · Palo Alto, California · founded 2015 · 24 employees
$20Mraised
▾

Buildbox offers a drag and drop game engine for the gaming industry. Allows any user to create games without the need to code or program. Offers a cross-platform development tool that runs on Windows and OSX and can be used to create games for mobile, console, and PC. Features are the image drop wheel, asset bar, options bar, collision editor, scene editor, monetization options, and sliders that change the physics within the game. Used in games like Color Switch, Damn Daniel, and The Line Zen.

Funding rounds
  • Jan 2021Series B$20M
Founders & team
Trey SmithFounder
Investors
The Raine Group, Galaxy Venture Capital, Manta Ray Ventures, Gaingels
#10
Acqui-Hired · Palo Alto, California · founded 2011 · 44 employees
$24Mraised
▾

Kiwi is a gaming company focused on casual mobile games. Founded in August 2011, the company has over 20 games in Android platforms. Kiwi has raised a total of $24 million in funding and was backed by Sequoia Capital, AdMob founder Omar Hamoui, Guitar Hero co-creator Charles Huang, and SV Angels. Headquartered in Palo Alto, with dev center in Bangalore, India. The company was acquired by SGN in September 2015.

Funding rounds
  • Aug 2014Series B$15M
  • Jul 2013Series A$9M
Investors
Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, DFJ, Northgate Capital, MK Venture Capital
#11
Series A · Palo Alto, California · founded 2012
$8.6Mraised
▾

Instant play gaming company connecting billions through accessible, social games. As the world’s first instant gaming company, they focus on building games that people can play together without any additional app downloads. They create innovative and disruptive games across all genres, changing how people connect through play across platforms. Their technology is fast, robust, and efficient, connecting millions of people to their games. They are web-based game developers with core technology to create innovative games. They offer social games, connecting friends and family through play, anytime, anywhere. They are changing the future of gaming through creativity, innovation, and disruption.

Funding rounds
  • Feb 2015Series A$7.3M
  • Sep 2014Seed$1.3M
Founders & team
Deyan VitanovCEO & FounderPeter DobrevCo-Founder
Investors
Innovation Endeavors, XG Ventures, Otter Rock Capital, VTI Capital, Maven Ventures, Lodestar Ventures
Tech stack
WordpressMysqlPhpUbuntuBootstrapPopup Maker
#12
Acquired · Palo Alto, California · founded 2008 · 13 employees
$4.8Mraised
▾

Corona Labs is a cross-platform mobile development framework that builds to iOS, Android, NOOK and Kindle Fire from one code base. Helps developers build games and apps for businesses and enterprises. Also has an enterprise version, where developers can customize Corona’s engine to their enterprise's needs.

Funding rounds
  • Nov 2012Seed$2.5M
  • Nov 2012Venture Debt$750K
  • Nov 2012Series A$1.2M
  • Dec 2009Seed$1M
Investors
Western Technology Investment, Merus Capital, JDJ Investments
Tech stack
All In One SeoAll In One Seo PackChart.JsCloudflareContact Form 7Core-Js

Funding & investor landscape

$896.5Mtotal disclosed funding
18companies funded
34disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Y Combinator3 rounds
MK Venture Capital2 rounds
Western Technology Investment2 rounds
XG Ventures2 rounds
11-11 Investments1 rounds
42K Investimentos1 rounds
7GC1 rounds
ARK Investment Management1 rounds
AT&T1 rounds
AU Holdings1 rounds

Notable founders

Dylan Robbins
Founder & CEO · Lucra Sports
Yucheng Hu
CEO & Chairman · Mega Matrix Corp
Mike Sherrill
Co-Founder · Machine Zone
Gabriel Leydon
Co-Founder · Machine Zone
Canaan Linder
Founder & CEO · Stardust
Rick Thompson
Founder & CEO · Playdom
Steve Perlman
Founder & CEO · OnLive
Trey Smith
Founder · Buildbox
Deyan Vitanov
CEO & Founder · Chobolabs
Peter Dobrev
Co-Founder · Chobolabs
Tobin Lent
ex-CEO & Founder · Punch Entertainment
Martin Geiger
ex-VP & Founder · Punch Entertainment
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 775,732 docs

Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage

Share of Gaming coverage by sub-theme.

Regulatory-risk over time rising

Funding & growth over time

funding rising · growth rising

RESEARCH SIGNALS · United States

How research on Gaming Technology is moving in the United States

A read on the academic research around Gaming Technology — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 670 United States-affiliated papers.

research sentiment over time
200820172026
enthusiastic · positive · guarded tone
Tone is overwhelmingly optimistic and intensifying — the enthusiastic (strongly-positive) share moved 59% → 75% across 2008–2026.
top research entities
  • Carnegie Mellon University23
  • Nvidia20
  • University of Utah16
  • University of California, Davis16
  • Cornell University15
leading researchers
Rui Wang · Sven K. Esche · Constantin Chassapis · Ravi Ramamoorthi · Kwan‐Liu Ma · Yizhe Chang · Christoph W. Borst · Chris Wyman
▲ Breakthroughs347 · 52%
▲ 47%→64% share
▲1.4× share momentum3 median citations37% since 2021mostly methods-led
Breakthroughs are rising (47%→64% of field), led by Image-based modeling and rendering.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Image-based modeling and rendering7→15
  • Alternate frame rendering2→10
  • Gaussian4→9
  • Augmented reality2→7
  • 3D rendering9→13
Newly emergingDifferentiable function 0→9 · Artificial neural network 0→8
Landmark Rendering synthetic objects into real scenes · 969 cites
◆ Advancements211 · 31%
▼ 34%→27% share
▼0.8× share momentum3 median citations26% since 2021mostly methods-led
Advancements are cooling (34%→27% of field), led by Context (archaeology).
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Context (archaeology)3→4
Landmark IRIS: Illustrative Rendering for Integral Surfaces · 58 cites
▼ Concerns38 · 6%
▼ 6%→4% share
▼0.7× share momentum1 median citations21% since 2021mostly position pieces
Concerns are cooling (6%→4% of field), led by Rendering (computer graphics).
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Rendering (computer graphics)25
  • Computer graphics (images)19
  • Game engine10
  • Real-time rendering9
  • Human–computer interaction8
Landmark Direct Volume Rendering: A 3D Plotting Technique for Scientific Data · 26 cites
RESEARCH HOTSPOTS · United States

Where gaming tech is researched across United States

Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.

New York28 · +0.60
Hot · Rendering (computer graphics)Advancing · Game engineOpportunity · Differentiable function
Pittsburgh24 · +0.60
Hot · Alternate frame renderingAdvancing · VisualizationOpportunity · Frame rate
SF Bay Area22 · +0.79
Hot · Rendering (computer graphics)Advancing · Computer graphics (images)
Boston13 · +0.74
Hot · Image-based modeling and renderingAdvancing · Rendering (computer graphics)Opportunity · 3D rendering
Los Angeles10 · +0.63
Hot · Game engineAdvancing · Virtual reality
Seattle9 · +0.53
Hot · Game engineAdvancing · Computer graphics (images)Opportunity · Video game development
Chicago8 · +0.51
Hot · Rendering (computer graphics)Advancing · Real-time renderingOpportunity · Cluster analysis
Atlanta7 · +0.81
Hot · Computer graphics (images)Advancing · Rendering (computer graphics)Opportunity · Real-time rendering
San Diego6 · +0.70
Hot · Rendering (computer graphics)Advancing · 3D renderingOpportunity · Image-based modeling and rendering
PATENT SIGNAL · United States

Who's filing gaming tech patents in the United States

United States gaming tech patent filing is accelerating — 406 filings from 157 assignees (2016–2025), led by Sony Interactive Entertainment, SONY Interactive Entertainment A, Microsoft; annual filings 10→50.

406 filings157 assigneespeak 71/yr2016–2025
filing momentum (YoY 2016–2025)
top patent filers
  • Sony Interactive Entertainment98
  • SONY Interactive Entertainment A50
  • Microsoft41
  • Google36
  • Intel35
  • Tencent America21
  • Nvidia18
  • Electronic ARTS14

Common questions

How many Gaming companies are there in Palo Alto, United States?
Radar tracks 31 indexable Gaming companies headquartered in Palo Alto, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Gaming companies in Palo Alto, United States?
The Gaming companies in Palo Alto, United States on this list have raised a combined $896.5M in disclosed equity funding across 18 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Gaming company in Palo Alto, United States?
Mega Matrix Corp is the highest-funded Gaming company in Palo Alto, United States, with $363.7M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Gaming companies in Palo Alto, United States are funded?
18 of the 31 Gaming companies in Palo Alto, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Gaming unicorns are there in Palo Alto, United States?
None of the Gaming companies in Palo Alto, United States on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in Palo Alto, United States Gaming companies?
The most active investors in Palo Alto, United States Gaming companies on this list include Y Combinator, MK Venture Capital, Western Technology Investment, XG Ventures, 11-11 Investments.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories

Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.

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