Comunix closes $30 million series A funding to expand hit game Pokerface

Comunix, an Israeli social gaming startup and the company behind the game Pokerface, announced on Wednesday that it has secured $30 million in series A funding, bringing the total raised by the company to $33 million to date. The round was led by March Gaming, which was joined by Powerhouse Capital, Woori Investments, and Altshuler Shaham. Existing investors who took part included Kaedan Capital, Velo Partners, Mitch Garber (who led the Playtika purchase), Shay Ben-Yitzhak, Eitan Reisel, and Baladi Ventures.

The money raised is expected to be used to improve and develop Pokerface’s capabilities and the company also said it plans to use it to expand the company and promote its vision of bringing people together through gaming.

Pokerface was developed to bring people together around a free virtual poker table. Players can play using virtual coins and communicate through video, putting their own poker face to the test. A community of eight million users has emerged around the game, as people from across the globe create meaningful social connections.

“We are both very close friends from Eilat who used to play poker together. I moved to the center about a decade ago and realized that we are far from our friends in Eilat and cannot play with them and we were looking for a way to connect. We developed a poker game that allows you to communicate with video and see the other players," Comunix CEO and co-founder Or Ben Shimon told Calcalist. Ben Shimon Founded the company in 2018 along with Idan Shriki.

During the pandemic, the company reported a 12-fold increase in revenue and a 9-fold increase in game users, much of both are attributed to more people staying at home over the past year. Most recently, Comunix increased its workforce by 500% and now employs 45 people in its Tel Aviv offices.

"People can play the game in any country as there is no gambling involved, what you earn remains inside the game, you earn game tokens,” added Ben Shimon. “We've seen a lot of people in the last year build different communities and play as a community. Our next goal is recruitment as the poker market is a fast-growing one, and we have a lot to do. We are currently available in 40 countries and we want to enter many more. All of the money will be going to the company and will be used to expand our growth. We recruited from investors who don’t just invest in gaming as we aren’t in the gambling sector but are rather for an audience that is looking for social interaction around poker.”