Mindtail has closed a $2 million pre-seed round. The Istanbul studio makes hybrid casual puzzle games and counts APY Ventures as its lead investor, with Inveo Ventures and Ak Portföy GSYF also backing the round.
The studio will direct the funding towards three areas: growing its team, putting AI-based production systems in place, and running early marketing tests. Mindtail expects to reach a team size roughly three times larger than today in the near term. A first game announcement is expected shortly.
A founding team that has worked on some of mobile gaming’s biggest hits
R. Tamer Özgen, Umut Yıldız, Sarper Karabağ, and Doğuşcan Öztürk are the four founders behind Mindtail. They use an AI-powered production model to build hybrid casual puzzle games. Before setting up Mindtail, the team held product, growth, and development roles at Dream Games, King, Tactile, Ace Games, and Codeway. Their work there included Royal Match, Royal Kingdom, Lily’s Garden, Candy Crush Soda, and the Braindom series, which have reached hundreds of millions of players in total. Ece Özgüle leads art direction at the studio.
Keçeli: “Game production as a capital efficiency game”
APY Ventures Fund Manager Mustafa Keçeli said: “What sets Mindtail apart is a founding philosophy that views game-making not just as a creative discipline, but as a capital efficiency game — where economics, production architecture, and timing align. A team with critical roles in globally successful titles placing AI-native production at the core of the company’s DNA from day one turns the per-iteration economic disadvantage of a hit-driven category into an advantage.”
Inveo Ventures’ Haluk Nişli noted: “Mindtail’s track record of working together, depth in product and growth, and rapid prototyping culture reflect what differentiating studios need in this new era. We’re proud to be among the first investors to back this newly founded studio.”
Ak Portföy GSYF’s Hüseyin Çelik added: “Mindtail stands out with its internationally proven founding team and AI-driven production approach. Türkiye’s recent billion-dollar exits clearly demonstrate the ecosystem’s global potential, and we believe Mindtail will be a major player as the AI transformation accelerates.”
Özgen: “Aiming to set a new standard”
Mindtail Co-Founder and CEO R. Tamer Özgen said: “This round is the moment our collective experience materializes. We aim to combine what we’ve learned from products serving hundreds of millions of players with an AI-native production model to set a new standard in hybrid casual puzzle. We’ve also created a meaningful option pool for those joining us — founder-employee alignment from day one is a top priority.”
About Mindtail
An Istanbul-based mobile gaming studio building hybrid casual puzzle games with an AI-native production model.
