Gaming company Backbone on Wednesday unveiled a $40 million Series A funding round led by Index Ventures with participation from Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures venture capital, Nico Wittenborn’s… and top talents include The Weeknd, Kevin Hart, Post Malone, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Amy Schumer and current investor Christopher Comstock (known as Marshmello).
Tech CEOs including Jason Citron of Discord, Nick Fajt of Rec Room and Patrick Spence of Sonos also participated in the fundraising.
Backbone was founded in 2021 by Maneet Khaira, a 24-year-old Google game employee, and launched its first product in the same year. Soon after, Backbone partnered with Microsoft to bring Xbox games to mobile devices, effectively turning the Backbone One device into a portable Xbox.
With Backbone One, players simply plug their iPhone into the device allowing them to access App Store and Apple Arcade titles and stream games through services like Xbox Game Pass and Luna.
With new core games on the App Store, enhanced cloud game services, and the growing popularity of remote play on consoles, Backbone will continue to function as a model, said Khaira. link and flow between all the unique experiences that players can have on mobile devices. in a statement for The Hollywood Reporter.
He added: “With this new investment, we will grow our team to help us continue to improve our products and services, with the goal of creating the absolute best experience. for players. We also plan to expand our distribution with new retail partners as well as partnerships with major players in the gaming and entertainment sectors. Keep stable!”
The Backbone One device is compatible with all gaming platforms, while the corresponding app can be used to stream games to Twitch, edit clips, and chat with other players.
