Layer, the AI application gateway built specifically for game developers, has raised $6.5 million in seed funding to make next-generation production tools.
Layer acts as the glue for game studios to deploy AI quickly and efficiently, with a professional suite of tools to build, manage and refine 2D, 3D and video assets while significantly reducing production time. Layer helps scale content across production pipelines, making it easier to develop and maintain games of all types. It’s got a lot of mobile game customers, which is why it has raised a new round of funding and is figuring out how to go after the PC and console game studio business.
“We’re the leading AI-powered tool for content creation, and we’re here for game studios,” said Volkan Gurel, CEO of Layer, in an interview with GamesBeat. “We started off with a focus on games. We’ve become the leading solution used by mobile studios worldwide. We have super deep gaming DNA.”
Arcadia (Akin Babayigit’s new fund), and an investment vehicle connected to Riccardo Zacconi (co-founder of King), led the round, with participation from existing investors e2.vc (formerly 500 Emerging Europe). Layer previously raised $1.8 million in November 2023.
“We’re just very excited about the funding ground. We’re very excited about the team we’re building, not just for for product development, but at the board level. We’re super excited about how we are the leaders in mobile. And I believe we will be the leaders in PC and console gaming content creation.”
Founded by industry veterans from Unity and MIT, Layer has quickly become the leading AI-powered content creation platform for mobile studios worldwide. Since launch, more than 200 studios, including leaders like Zynga, Tripledot, SciPlay, Huuuge Games and Machine Zone, have integrated Layer into their production pipelines to accelerate asset creation while maintaining brand consistency.
Embracing multiple AI models
The company helps game studios create content for everything from in-game assets to live ops, art and marketing assets. It is flexible in that it allows game studios to use the best-of-breed AI models for different tasks such as 2D imagery, 3D imagery and more in an AI production pipeline, Gurel said.
“It’s a jigsaw puzzle. Every company has a different need, and what we built was basically is an [all-in-one] platform where all these foundation models come in. So we are model agnostic,” he said. “We bring all these together under one umbrella and then deliver this super accessible tool for artists. And that actually also brings me to my next point, which is we try not to keep AI front and center in the product as much as the human aspect. We empower the artists.”
Gurel said many companies found our early that AI models were good for producing consistent output. But when you wanted to edit images, resize things or convert an image into a 3D model, there were no tools for that. That’s what Layer focused on, Gurel said.
“Game studios preferred us because we had all the models. We weren’t tied to one model and limited just to what that one model could do,” Gurel said. “We could do it all in one platform. So it gave us an advantage.”
By contrast, some AI tools get criticized for eliminating human developers.
“The vision we have of the future is an artist with taste, an art team with taste, driving this content creation and creating a differentiated offering,” he said. “We don’t believe in a future where AI is churning out the same stuff for everyone. We believe there needs to be super controllable, deep artist involvement in whatever art is created now and in the future.”
Built with game makers in mind from the start, and enterprise ready, Layer has already become the preferred partner to mobile developers, the company said.
“At a time that everyone was creating point solutions, we saw that the best path to effectively apply AI models to games in the most custom, flexible and long-term way, was to have a multi-modal, tool-agnostic platform,” said Gurel. “We are the only games-specific company delivering an enterprise ready solution, and the response from the industry has been near immediate. We have quickly become the preferred partner for mobile game companies, and with our seed investment, and the support of our incredible investors Akin and Riccardo, our team will enhance our platform and expand to the broader games industry.”
The Layer team includes experts in AI, gaming and art production, all focused on building the best tools for creative professionals so the company stands out with its ability to serve game creators. Layer helps with everything from core game development assets to live service content, to marketing pipelines, and provides teams a grounded AI solution designed to solve real challenges, at scale, in their brand style.
“Layer is the first solution I have seen to provide developers with the simplest way to bring AI into their production pipelines,,” said King cofounder and investor Riccardo Zacconi, in a statement. “I am impressed with the team Burcu and Volkan have built, as well as Layer’s technology and deployment speed. I am excited to join this talented team’s journey alongside fellow investor and mobile games vet, Akin Babayigit. “
“The team at Layer fundamentally get games, and they have the right vision and momentum to create a new industry standard to transform how world-class studios are scaling game development and production with AI,” said Tripledot cofounder and investor Akin Babayigit, in a statement. “I am excited to support Burcu and Volkan, who are executing with incredible efficiency, and to join Riccardo, who is a phenomenal entrepreneur himself.”
With this funding, Layer will continue to deliver industry-leading tools for mobile studios while expanding the team and building features to support a wide range of games. As the games industry continues to evolve, Layer will be laser-focused on helping creators bridge the gap between AI innovation and game development.
Origins
The founding team includes Gurel, who is a technologist with deep expertise in AI, scalable systems, and machine learning.
He had an engineering background from MIT and studied under AI pioneers Marvin Minsky and Pat Winston. Gurel has spent his career at the forefront of AI-driven product development. He has held key engineering leadership roles at Coinbase, where he worked on scalable financial infrastructure, and at Airware, where he helped develop AI-powered solutions for enterprise applications. His experience spans large-scale distributed systems, AI research, and product innovation, all of which now drive Layer’s mission to bring generative AI to game studios worldwide.
He worked at Hunch, a company cofounded by Chris Dixon. They made a recommendation engine using machine learning to solve the recommendation problem for e-commerce. They eventually got acquired by eBay, and Gurel was part of the team that built the eBay merchandising system powered by machine learning.
“That’s where I got exposed to some personalization aspects of how machine learning could really help them generate a lot more revenue from a baseline once it’s applied to a use case like personalization,” he said.
The cofounder and chief revenue officer is Burcu Hakguder, a business leader with deep expertise in building and scaling services for game studios. She drives the company’s growth strategy, forging partnerships with top game studios worldwide. Before Layer, Burcu spent over a decade in gaming-related services, specializing in business development and go-to-market strategy.
At Unity Technologies, she played a key role in building new revenue streams across multiple leadership positions, helping set the company up for a successful IPO. She has also worked with several tech startups, scaling AI-powered products for the games industry. As a cofounder, she drives partnerships with top game studios like Zynga, SciPlay, and Huuuge Games, helping them scale their production pipelines and continue to grow. Gurel credited her for knowing a lot of people in the industry.
“She’s amazing with seven years of experience in business development at Unity,” Gurel said. “She literally knows everyone. It’s a small community and when you build that reputation of being trusted, you can set up really strong partnerships and build products with feedback in mind. That’s how we were able to get where we are with such a small team.”
The road ahead for AI
Gurel sees all sorts of companies embracing AI, including new studios with a couple of people. He also sees bigger studios using the tools to become more efficient. The tools will deliver games with more personalization, localization and perhaps 10 or 100 times more content, he said. The teams that deliver this content will be world-class teams, not just teams with a single person he said.
Gurel sees AI continuing to deliver lower costs, faster creation and higher-quality creation going forward, on the pace of Moore’s Law, which drives chip and hardware innovation forward.
“It will keep happening and we are relying on it,” he said. “We see that over and over, so we always try to stay ahead.”
But Gurel doesn’t believe that will put all game developers out of work.
“We believe the opposite. We believe that the near future will have more practical applications of AI, and it will transform how we work digitally. And our focus is on that practical aspect,” he said. “Like, how do we help artists, game studios adapt to this future, transform digitally for content creation.”
The company has a team of 16 people, and Gurel said it is an efficient team in part because it is using AI in all of its disciplines across engineering and marketing.
“It’s the same for us as it is for our customers,” Gurel said. “There’s all sorts of issues and blockers with AI that we know how to overcome. We use those learnings to build a great product.”
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