Some news we’re very excited to share: Anorak has raised $5m in pre-seed funding.
It’s a pretty significant milestone for us, and a big vote of confidence in what we’re building and, more importantly, what we believe interactive entertainment can become.
When we had the idea for Anorak, the ambition was simple to describe, if not quite so simple to deliver: make any pursuit playable.
At Hutch, we learned just how passionate people can be about the things they love. Car enthusiasts weren’t just playing our games; they were obsessing over every detail, sharing their knowledge and building communities around a common interest. We started asking ourselves: what if you could create that kind of experience for any interest, no matter how niche?
That’s the opportunity we’re pursuing at Anorak. From anglers and sneakerheads to birdwatchers, padel players and everything in between, we think there’s a huge world of underserved communities waiting for entirely new forms of entertainment (even if they don’t know it yet!).
It’s fantastic to have Backed VC and Play Ventures co-leading this round, alongside Supercell and MTG, with some brilliant angel investors on board too, including Justin Waldron, co-founder of Zynga. To have the backing of people who have helped shape the games and entertainment industries feels like a real endorsement of our vision.
The funding gives us the resources to grow our already 20-strong team across London and Chengdu, bring our first playable formats to market and build towards opening up our creator platform in early 2027.
There’s a lot to do, there will be lots of challenges (foreseen and not so!) but that’s exactly what makes this exciting.
A huge thank you to our investors, our team and everyone who’s been part of getting us here. We’re only just getting started.
Let’s make any pursuit playable.
Huge congrats!
Congratulations team Anorak!