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Finnish Gaming Studio BIT ODD Raises €17m to Craft Mobile Games that ‘Stir the Soul’

BIT ODD wants to reintroduce wonder and eccentricity into the gaming world

QUICK TAKE

  • BIT ODD was founded by some of the leading creatives behind Supercell’s Clash of Clans and Clash Royale to craft games based on magical moments rather than data.
  • The team is working on an immersive experience intended to inspire players in ways that traditional approaches have overlooked.
  • Index Ventures participated in the new €17M round led by Griffin Gaming Partners, with participation from Makers Fund. The raise follows BIT ODD’s initial €5M seed round led by Index.

INDEX PERSPECTIVE
By Sofia Dolfe, Partner

Every time I meet with Lasse, Jani and the BIT ODD team I leave inspired – by their ambition, by their sense of fun, and by their complete dedication to creating unique, lasting IP that, in the words of Lasse, ‘stirs the soul’.

Since we invested at seed in 2022, there has been exciting progress on both the team and product front, with the studio’s first game advancing enormously. I’ve been lucky enough to preview the development and I can say that this is set to be a one-of-a-kind product on mobile. BIT ODD started with a vision to create games that put experience and feeling above metrics and data, and the team hasn’t swayed.

A key reason for this is Lasse himself. He lives and breathes games and is ruthlessly obsessive. There’s a real sense that his life of playing and making games – including two of the most successful mobile games ever – has been building up to this moment. I can’t wait for when it is ready to share with the world.

DETAILS

BIT ODD wants to reintroduce wonder and eccentricity into the gaming world, a quality that the team sees as having been overshadowed by the finance-first focus of mobile gaming. Their mission is to create games that attract players through emotion and innovation, rather than just achieving the traditional success metrics of downloads and revenue.

Led by CEO and co-founder Lasse Louhento (former Game Lead and Art Director of Clash of Clans, and a Co-Creator of the Clash IP), 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.

"We started BIT ODD because we felt something was missing in gaming today," said Lasse Louhento, Co-Founder of BIT ODD. "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."

To help bring their creative vision to life, the Finnish gaming studio has raised €17 million in funding led by Griffin Gaming Partners with participation from Index Ventures and Makers Fund.

In this post: BIT ODD, Sofia Dolfe

Published — Nov. 14, 2024