Gaming backend technology company PlayFab raises $7.4M in latest funding round

Keeping games running online is a complicated task, and one of the companies that builds the tools that makes that easier for developers just got a significant injection of cash to expand.

PlayFab announced today that it raised $7.4 million in a series-A funding round. This brings total investment in the company to $9.9 million after about a year after its launch. The company provides game makers with cross-platform tools to keep live games running on PC, console, and mobile. These kinds of releases already make up 30 percent of the market, and PlayFab is working to serve them better than anyone else. Investment group Benchmark led the round, and its general partner Mitch Lasky will join the company’s board as a result. Series A also saw participation from Startup Capital Ventures, Orbitz chief executive Barney Harford, and PopCap Games cofounder Jason Kapalka. Providing tools to developers is a lucrative business — PlayFab expects this market to generate $108 billion by 2020, and it competes in this space with GameSparks and companies that operate their own back-end functions.