Born Raises $15m for AI Virtual Companions; Square Enix Makes First Brazil Investment via Nuuvem

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Germany-based AI gaming tech company Born has raised $15m in a Series A round led by Accel, with participation from Tencent (HK: 0700) and Laton Ventures. The funding will be used to accelerate the product roadmap, expand the AI team, open a new office in the US, and enhance character development in the company’s core product, Pengu, a virtual penguin with over 15 million registered users globally. Formerly known as Slay, Born is developing AI-driven virtual companions and social apps. The company previously secured $5m in Jun’24 with total funds raised equal to $25m.

Canada-based AI gaming tech company LocusX has raised $2.2m in a Seed round co-led by Diagram and Triptyq Capital. The funding will be used to refine the product and team expansion. LocusX develops an AI-powered issue resolution engine for game developers, providing tools to streamline debugging processes and reduce manual work.

Saudi Arabia-based Exel by Merak, the gaming accelerator of Merak Capital, has announced two investments from the previously disclosed initiative.

• Saudi Arabia-based multiplatform games developer Evolite Studio has secured $300k. The investment will support the development of the company’s upcoming title, Noor. Noor is a top-down action game based on Arabian mythology. The company previously released its mobile title Lost Path, which has surpassed 100,000 downloads since launch in Apr’25.
• Saudi Arabia-based multiplatform games developer HYS Games has raised $300k in a pre-seed accelerator funding round. The funding will be used for team expansion, scaling production capacity, and development of the company’s upcoming PC & Console AA title.

UK-based QA and localization services provider to the gaming companies, Testronic, has secured an undisclosed investment from TDC. The proceeds will support the acceleration of growth and expansion of the leadership team. Testronic specializes in QA testing and localization, while its subsidiary Secret 6 provides 3D and VFX art services. The transaction follows a broader restructuring of the Catalis Group, during which Curve Games, previously part of the group alongside Testronic, was divested to Nazara Technologies (NSE: NAZARA) for $28.9m in May’25. The divestment simplified the corporate structure, allowing Testronic to focus on its core QA, localization, and art services.

Brazil-based game distributor and publisher Nuuvem has secured an undisclosed investment from Square Enix (TYO: 9684). The funding will be used to launch and scale Spawnd, a browser-native demo platform that allows players to access game demos directly in the browser without downloads or queues. The platform is currently in soft launch with 12 titles. This deal marks Square Enix’s first investment in Brazil.