Welcome back to another EUVC Podcast, where we gather Europe’s venture family to share the stories, insights, and lessons that drive our ecosystem forward. Today we dive into the world of gaming with Alper Oner, Co-founder of Agave Games, and Enis Hulli, General Partner at e2vc. Agave has taken the gaming world by storm with its hit “Find the Cat” — a quirky hidden-object game that has become a global revenue driver, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in daily revenue. But this wasn’t a straight line: Agave started as a publisher, pivoted into building games in-house, and is now raising big rounds to expand with its new hit “What the Hex.” Agave has taken the gaming world by storm with its hit “Find the Cat” — a quirky hidden-object game that climbed global charts, hitting tens of thousands of dollars in daily revenue and inspiring a wave of imitators. But the road here was far from linear: Agave began as a publisher, pivoted to a studio model, and has since raised an $18M Series A led by Baldur’s Gate Capital, Felicis, and e2vc to fuel its next big title — “What the Hex.” Together, Enis and Alper unpack how to back founders over ideas, pivot at the right time, and scale when metrics explode — all while explaining why Turkey has quietly become Europe’s mobile gaming superpower. 🎧 Here’s what’s covered: 00:10 Introduction: Andreas sets the stage with Alper (Agave) & Enis (E2VC), and why Turkey is Europe’s gaming powerhouse. 05:00 Origins: Alper’s pivot from San Francisco data science to mobile gaming, founding Agave with high school friends. 10:00 Publisher Model Pivot: Why Agave started as a publisher, why the space saturated, and how they decided to build games in-house. 15:00 Betting on Founders: Enis on why pivots are inevitable, and why VCs back founders over ideas. 20:00 Turkey’s Gaming Wave: From Peak Games to 80+ new studios, how the ecosystem multiplies talent and capital. 25:00 Cracking the Code: How “Find the Cat” scaled from intuition to top charts, with ROAS and retention metrics off the charts. 30:00 The Cat Effect: Why cats trend globally, the copycats that followed, and why Agave resists “reskinning.” 35:00 What the Hex: Agave’s next title in the booming sorting genre, its differentiating mechanics, and early fan addiction stories. 40:00 Raising $18M: How Agave closed its Series A with Baldur’s Gate Capital, Felicis, and E2VC, and why they chose speed over maximum valuation. 45:00 Lessons Learned: Alper on vision-setting before execution, Enis on prorata strategy, and why gaming is Pixar, not SaaS. 50:00 Future of Gaming: Will the industry move towards blockbusters or niches, and why agility across multiple titles is now key.
