Bit Odd, a creative studio in Finland led by former Supercell leader Lasse Louhento, has raised $18.2 million (€17 million) in funding to make mobile games.
Griffin Gaming Partners led the round, with participation from Makers Fund, Index Ventures and others. Those are good investors and that’s a lot of money for this day and age, considering gaming has had 33,000 layoffs in the last 2.5 years. But this makes sense because Louhento was the game lead on Clash of Clans, a mighty mobile game that has generated $10 billion in revenues.
Griffin Gaming Partners said it is committed to empowering Bit Odd to deliver captivating experiences that resonate deeply with players worldwide. I was able to get a rare interview with Louhento.
The startup aims to reintroduce wonder and eccentricity into the gaming world, a quality often overshadowed by the finance-first focus of mobile gaming. The team’s mission is to create games that attract players through emotion and innovation rather than just conforming to traditional metrics.
“We started Bit Odd because we felt something was missing in gaming today,” said Louhento. “The mobile gaming surge has been incredible, but it has also steered many studios toward finance-first thinking—over-relying on metrics and following the competition. Our approach is a bit different. We focus on designing games that stir the soul, embrace quirkiness, and tap into the emotional magic of gaming classics.”
“Launching something truly original in gaming takes guts, authenticity, and an unshakable passion forthe craft. In an era where data is often the core driver for design, Bit Odd is charting a different course — we’re excited to back Lasse and a team of next-gen talent” said Pierre Planche, Partner at Griffin Gaming Partners.
Operating within a vibrant studio environment reminiscent of an atelier, Bit Odd is pioneering a new era in game development. Drawing upon their extensive experience and personal journeys, the team is creating more than just a game — they are designing an immersive experience intended to inspire players in ways that traditional approaches have overlooked.
Griffin Gaming Partners is one of the world’s leading venture capital firms focused on the global gamingmarket with over $1.3 billion in assets under management.
Bit Odd said it is dedicated to delivering an extraordinary mobile gaming experience by prioritizing gameplay above all else.
A quirky company
The company’s team includes Louhento, former game lead and art director at Supercell. Bit Odd stands by a commitment to creativity and quirkiness. The vision is simple: games should be crafted from the ground up to enhance player enjoyment.
“Sailing with a small crew is never easy, and it’s taken us time to find our stride. But now we’ve cut through the waters, the current is pulling us forward, and our destination’s in sight,” said Louhento, in a blog post. “I couldn’t be prouder of our team. We’ve got fire in our bellies, a mix of fresh recruits and seasoned experts with the scar tissue to prove it. But we all share the same desire: to make games that have the magic of the classics we grew up with.”
He said the studio in Helsinki has the intensity of a workshop, an atelier.
“No swings or personal baristas here. Only ‘overclocked’ computers, drawing tablets, markers – and of course our shrine stacked with the games and memorabilia of past masters, to remind us why we do this,” he said. “We’re trying to make the best game imaginable. What does ‘the best’ mean, for us? It’s not something you get from obsessing about metrics or overanalyzing market trends.”
He said the game is crafted with heart and soul.
“One that will linger in the mind long after the screen goes dark and the last pixels fade away,” Louhento said. “It’s one we can be proud of, as we sit in the old folks’ home. This game is more special to me than all the previous games I’ve worked on. A decade ago, I had surgery for a slow-growing brain cancer. It brought home to me what I should do with the rest of my life. I’m going to keep doing what I was already doing.”
The company previously raised a €5 million seed investment from Index Ventures.
Origins
Louhento, whoc grew up in Finland, recalled fondly that in his second grade class, the girls circulated a “friend book” around the class with the question, “What are you going to be when you grow up.” Louhento wrote that he wanted to be a “computer game repairman.” It came from the notion that computer games didn’t always load properly and seemed to need some kind of repair.
He didn’t know whether that job existed. But at an early age, he got his first computer, a Commodore 64. Back then, Finland only had two TV channels. But the Commodore 64 revolutionized Louhento’s life. Among the games he played was Hektik, a 1984 action arcade game by Mastertronic.
“It was just like a gateway to this Narnia, this absolutely wondrous, wondrous world. And I’m still living in this weird fantasy bubble,” Louhento said. “I thought games could be improved. I’m in that journey. I’m kind of still a computer games repairman. I’m still sold on this. I’ll do anything to do this.”
Louhento went to community college because his grades weren’t that great. He was distracted by gaming, and he didn’t finish college. He loved adventure point-and-click games from Sierra and others. He met a fellow who was making a game and Louhento said he would do anything to make the game with him. That was his first title, and he created art on an Amiga computer.
They had to go through an elaborate scanning process to create images. In 1993, Louhento joined a company called Bloodhouse, then that combined with Terramarque in 1995, a fusion of the two founders Ilari Kuittinen and Harri Tikkanen. It was called Housemarque, and it is still the oldest active developer of games in Finland. One of its biggest hits, published in 2021, was Returnal.
Louhento bounced around and got a job in Dublin at a game company called Funcom. He made games there, like Speed Punks, which debut on the PlayStation in 1999.
“That’s where I really learned my chops,” he said.
With this route, Louhento didn’t follow the path of many Finnish game developers, who worked on mobile games in the home country of Nokia.
“I started as a hardcore gamer,” he said. “Mobile games are this thing that the whole industry has evolved to. I worked on console games for many years.”
Then, he said, “I met a girl.” Their relationship took him back to Finland for good. He worked at more game companies and wound up at Sulake, the maker of Habbo Hotel. He worked there for seven years on games like Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds. He left Sulake for Digital Chocolate, an early mobile game maker created in 2003 by Trip Hawkins.
He worked there for a while and met Ilkka Paananen and others who would become famous later. In 2011, they approached him and recruited him to join Supercell, where he became a game lead and art director on a game called Clash of Clans. As game lead, every new proposal for something went through Louhento. And it turned out to be a smooth development process.
The game debuted in 2013 and went on to generate $10 billion in revenue and it led to Supercell being acquired by China’s Tencent. Louhento spent 6.5 years at Supercell and worked on Clash Royale (2016) as well.
After leaving Supercell, Louhento did more startups and did consulting. Then he started Bit Odd in 2019.
Getting started and raising money
At the outset, there were just three people working on game ideas and prototypes. They started out doing work for hire to pay the bills and bring in some money for a couple of years. About 3.5 years ago, they began focusing on their own game. They worked for a long time and were able to create a playable vertical slice of a game. There are 17 of team members now. It’s a mix of both game veterans and younger developers because the team wants a mix of talent and perspectives.
Annina Salvén, former CEO of Next Games, said that Louhento’s team was smart in that they didn’t go out to raise money until they had an enjoyable vertical slice that was fun to play.
“It’s rare to have a team that bootstraps themselves,” she said. “That sets a tone for fiscal responsibility. And Lasse’s track record speaks for itself.”
Salvén joined as CFO of the company, and she had contacts with Peter Levin, managing director of Griffin Gaming Partners. At Next Games, there were some rough times, but Levin stayed levelheaded, Salvén said.
“You will have bumpy times, and you want someone who can deal with those bumps,” she said.
That’s how Griffin came in as the biggest investor.
While Louhento has been making hardcore games for a long time, the process of making cool games on mobile at Supercell had an impact on him.
“The platform for me is a no brainer, as everybody has a mobile phone,” Louhento said. “I’m a joystick gamer. I wish there were a joystick for mobile phones, but there isn’t. But I like a challenge, and it’s not impossible. So we started out working on the controls.”
He wouldn’t say more about the game they’re working on, other than it’s an action-oriented game. Louhento is glad that the game resonated with investors. As for why the company raised $18.2 million, Louhento said the company has a low development budget.
“We don’t have baristas,” he said.
But he said that today’s games need a lot of marketing budget to help them catch on.
“You need capital for that stuff,” he said.
The company will likely do a soft launch for the game early next year. But in development, anything can happen. And Louhento encourages that. That’s why he called the company Bit Odd.
“There’s a certain celebration of eccentricity, but I just love it,” he said.
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