Carry1st brings mobile Premier League to Africa
Carry1st has launched India's leading mobile esports and gaming platform in Africa. As the official licensor and publisher of Mobile Premier League (MPL) in Africa, Carry1st will enable new players to access one of the world's largest Paid Competitive Gaming (PGC) platforms.
In January, Carry1st raised a $27 million pre-Series B from Bitkraft Ventures, a16z and Konvoy Ventures to drive mobile gaming adoption in Africa. Today, Carry1st has launched India's leading mobile esports and gaming platform in Africa.
As the official licensor and publisher of Mobile Premier League (MPL) in Africa, Carry1st will enable new players to access one of the world's largest Paid Competitive Gaming (PGC) platforms. "We are incredibly excited to bring MPL to various African markets through our partnership with Carry1st. As our first market, Nigeria's thriving gaming community and its position as the largest economy in Africa make it the perfect market for us to expand into," says Sai Srinivas, Co-Founder and CEO, MPL.
MPL has proven success in multiple territories, with a strong presence in Asia, North America and Europe. A new form of gaming, PGC allows users to participate in skill-based gaming contests.
"We are confident that gamers in this market will embrace MPL and its growing collection of games, and we look forward to providing them with an unforgettable gaming experience," Srinivas added.
Carry1st is partnering with MPL to optimize the product for African markets, starting with Nigeria. MPL has integrated Pay1st, Carry1st’s monetization-as-a-service platform. With Pay1st, MPL provides over 120 local payment methods for in-game purchases across Carry1st’s markets in Africa.
"We've been impressed with MPL for years and are thrilled to expand the company’s reach to Africa. With over 60 games to play and a sophisticated liveops platform, we believe MPL provides one of the best products we’ve evaluated for our market. We’re excited to activate our growing community around this new endeavour," according to Lucy Hoffman, Carry1st Co-Founder and COO.
Carry1st has continued to work with and expand, the globe’s biggest games. The launch of MPL comes off the back of its partnership with Call of Duty®: Mobile in South Africa in 2022.
In 2022, Carry1st signed a partnership with Riot Games to pilot local payments for the company's games in Africa. Riot Games is the developer and publisher behind League of Legends — the most-played PC game in the world. Riot Games is an early investor in Carry1st and has been a continued supporter of the business.
