Supercell has acquired a majority stake in Trailmix and invests a further $60 million to hypercharge the growth of Love&Pies
Today is a momentous day for us, because we can finally tell the world that Supercell has acquired a majority stake in Trailmix and has committed $60 million in financing, which is a testament to our incredible team and the success of Love&Pies!
But let’s start at the beginning…
Tristan and I started Trailmix in December 2017, after having worked together for many years and having spent many months pondering over why a company like Trailmix should exist. As part of those ponderings we created three pillars — to assemble a talented, diverse team, to combine the best of casual F2P with great storytelling, and to have a positive impact — which have been a guiding light for us and the team ever since. The slide is now much prettier than it was in our original pitch in 2017 but the pillars and their importance have never changed.
We’ve seen how people can flourish in the right environment, and our number one priority has always been to create a space where people can be the best version of themselves, no matter who they are or where they come from. It was always vitally important to us that any investor we brought on board shared these values.
We first met Supercell during Slush in Helsinki in December 2017. Saying that it was love at first sight would be cheesy but we do appreciate a bit of cheesiness here at Trailmix and I can’t deny that we were absolutely thrilled when Supercell made an offer to invest in our seed round. Supercell is, after all, one of the most successful and highly regarded gaming companies in the world, their values are also incredibly well aligned with our own, and they are all seriously amazing people.
Fast forward to May 2022: The Trailmix team is now 30 people strong and made up of brilliant individuals who are not only kind and caring but also insanely ambitious and the best in our industry. We are particularly proud of the inclusive culture we all have created at Trailmix — half of our wider leadership team is female and we have a very strong LGBT+ community.
We successfully released Love&Pies eight months ago; its performance has completely exceeded our expectations — our Day 120 is above 10% which shows how much our players love our game — and we’re just getting started. Building a great team and releasing a successful game is definitely not an easy feat, and it has taken us many years and a lot of rollercoaster rides to get here. And we’re only in this position because of the tenacity and belief of people who joined us on this crazy ride.
Supercell has been right there with us the whole time — a great partner who’s always shown us lots of trust, respect and support.
Therefore, we are incredibly excited to announce that Supercell has acquired a majority stake in Trailmix and has committed another $60m (a mix of equity and debt financing) to hypercharge the growth of Love & Pies, helping us to execute on our ambitious strategy of reinventing what casual mobile gaming can give to our players.
Trailmix will continue to operate completely autonomously and independently, a model which has worked extremely well for Supercell and its affiliated companies. It allows us to work together very closely while maintaining what has made Trailmix great and successful. In practical terms this means that Trailmix will continue to operate as a separate entity with full operational control and our unique and distinct culture but with the power (and love) of Supercell to catapult us to the next level. We truly have our ‘pie’ and eat it too :)
Our mission pillars continue to be as important as they were in December 2017 when we spent an exciting week in slushy Helsinki. Trailmix has shaken up the industry and has shown that high care and high performance are not mutually exclusive, and that diversity is indeed a cornerstone for a highly successful business. Equally, Love & Pies has shown that it’s possible to create a snackable yet nourishing game, revolutionizing storytelling on mobile. But that’s just the beginning of our ambitions, and we now have the chance to turn those ambitions into reality for our team, our players and our industry.
Thanks to every single Trailmixer for making all of this possible, for trusting us and sticking with us over the last few years and supporting us through all the ups and downs of start-up life. And thanks to Supercell for being so awesome — we’re so happy to be on this journey together.
We’re only at the beginning of our adventure, and we’re looking for more amazing team members. If you want to work with a great team, creating successful casual mobile games that make a difference, take a look at our current opportunities.
And if you haven’t played Love&Pies yet, download the game now for some snackable yet nourishing fun!
