US-based tabletop games developer Exploding Kittens received $30m in funding yesterday from TCG Capital Management, an investment firm affiliated to over-the-top media company The Chernin Group.
Founded in 2015, Exploding Kittens creates card games characterised by whimsical card illustrations and a bizarre sense of humour. It aims to form a bond with its fanbase in a bid to form a community around its products.
The company debuted with an eponymous strategy-themed game before adding a second strategy title called Bears vs Babies, party game dubbed You’ve Got Crabs and two games with light-hearted game mechanics: Throw Throw Burrito and On a Scale of One to T-Rex.
The capital will fund the development of future tabletop games and Exploding Kittens’ move into additional formats like live events, beginning with a fan convention in the state of Oregon scheduled for May 2020.
Exploding Kittens will also look to experiment with new ideas and hire additional team members as it seeks to bring some of its production and distribution activities in-house.
Chernin Group views the company’s attempts to build a community around its fanbase as aligned with the rest of its historic and current portfolio, examples of which include Food52, a kitchenware e-commerce platform that offers recipe and travel tips alongside its core product.
Exploding Kittens raised $20m from at least two investors in May this year according to a regulatory filing, having secured $8.8m in a 2015 crowdfunding campaign.