# Anton Backman

> Anton Backman is a seed investor at Play Ventures (Helsinki) backing Gaming and Video Games. See 6 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Play Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/play-ventures)
- Location: Helsinki, Finland
- Total investments: 6
- Last investment: Mar 2026
- Lead investor: 67%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonbackman/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/backman_anton

Anton Backman is a seed investor at Play Ventures in Helsinki focused on Gaming and Video Games. Anton Backman - Investment Associate @ Play Ventures

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gaming | 3 | 50% |
| Video Games | 2 | 33% |
| Video | 1 | 17% |
| Mobile | 1 | 17% |
| Retail | 1 | 17% |

13 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 2 | 33% |
| Pre-Seed | 2 | 33% |
| Series B | 1 | 17% |
| Series C | 1 | 17% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| India | 1 | 17% |
| Spain | 1 | 17% |
| Denmark | 1 | 17% |
| Finland | 1 | 17% |
| United States | 1 | 17% |

6 countries tracked in total.

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cheer Games | Cheer Games is a mobile gaming studio creating casual puzzle games with fresh gameplay. | $4.5M | Pre-Seed | Mar 05, 2026 |  |
| Midnite | Building the future of esports betting | $35M | Series C | Jan 15, 2026 |  |
| EloElo | Look Good, Feel good daily with India’s #1 Short Videos App for Health, Beauty & Lifestyle ! 100% Made in India, Made for India App that lets you watch entertaining & informative 60 second videos and also win 100s of Products free | $13.3M | Series B | Apr 07, 2025 |  |
| Ray Browser | Ray is setting a new standard for gaming by creating the ultimate browser designed specifically for gamers. With cutting-edge features and seamless performance, it is transforming the way players experience games and empowering developers to push the boundaries of innovation. By optimizing speed, reliability, and user experience, Ray is not justenhancing gameplay but also shaping the future of the gaming industry for both players and developers alike. |  | Seed | Dec 18, 2024 |  |
| Redemption Games | Redemption Games is a mobile gaming company that develops casual games. It offers hundreds of thousands of games in the app store and to be able to rise to the top requires a unique combination of skill and effort, from how the game is designed to how its marketed and operated as a live service. The company was founded in 2015 and isheadquartered in Carlsbad, California. | $7M | Seed | Mar 07, 2023 |  |
| Bright Star Studios | Bright Star Studios is a passionate team of Award Winning Venture Founders, former Pro-Players, World Champions, Game Industry Veterans and MMO fanatics carving a new path forward for MMORPGs across PC, Browser, and Mobile through a modern rewrite of the games industry business models in favor of the user, exciting competitive gameplay, and instantplayability. Ember Sword is our love-letter to MMORPG gamers across the world.Bright Star Studios was founded in 2018 by Mark Laursen, Joris Huijbregts, Sage Durain, Sune Thorsen and Founding Investor Lars Henriksen & Co-Founder Loren Roosendaal. The studio is working on their flagship title, Ember Sword, a modern rewrite of the games industry business model in favor of the user, and a love letter to MMORPG (Massively Online Role Playing Game) gamers.Ember Sword has the fast-paced combat of aRPGs, combined with the isometric view and skill-based abilities of MOBAs, set in a persistent MMORPG fantasy universe.Nominated as "Best Company to Internship at in 2021" in DenmarkEmber Sword: Free2Play Platform-Agnostic MMORPG ✔ Player-driven economy ✔ Classless combat system ✔ Scarce, tradable cosmetics (NFTs) ✔ No Pay2win, LootBoxes or Predatory Monetization ✔ Become a landowner, mold the gameworld ✔ Artist Workshop for community NFTs, create your own dances, hats and skins ✔ AI endures an epic player experience ✔ Proprietary custom built engine ✔Would you like to know more?www.EmberSword.comwww.BrightStar.Studio | $700K | Pre-Seed | Apr 28, 2020 |  |

6 of 6 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Makers Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/makers-fund) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [The Raine Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/therainegroup) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [A16Z GAMES Speedrun](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/a16z-games) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [BigBets.vc](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bigbets-vc) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [BITKRAFT Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bitkraft-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Courtside Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/courtside-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Play Ventures

VC Fund · Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Play Ventures is a venture funding that invests globally in games and game services startups.

5 contacts available at Play Ventures.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Anton Backman | Investment Associate | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/anton-backman |
| Elad Levy | Limited Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/elad-levy-fec7 |
| Harri Manninen | Founding Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/harri-manninen |
| Henric Suuronen | Founding Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/henric-suuronen |
| Michail Katkoff | Venture Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/michail-katkoff |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Anton Backman invest in?

Anton Backman invests primarily in Gaming, Video Games and Video startups, most often at Seed and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 6 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in India. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Anton Backman last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Anton Backman closed in Mar 2026. Shizune tracks 6 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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