# Mike Verdu

> Mike Verdu is a seed investor at Playful.AI (Cardiff By The Sea) backing Gaming and Software. See 4 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Playful.AI](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/playful-ai)
- Location: Cardiff By The Sea, United States
- Total investments: 4
- Last investment: Feb 2022
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-verdu-2a6113/
- Website: https://x.com/michael_verdu
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.verdu

Mike Verdu is a seed investor at Playful.AI in Cardiff By The Sea focused on Gaming and Software. Mike Verdu is based out of Cardiff-by-the-Sea and is the Co-founder and co-CEO of Playful.AI. Mike previously worked at Meta as a VP, AR/VR Content. Mike Verdu attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $1.3M–$4M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gaming | 3 | 75% |
| Software | 2 | 50% |
| Video Games | 2 | 50% |
| Computer | 1 | 25% |
| Publishing | 1 | 25% |

9 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 2 | 50% |
| Series A | 1 | 25% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Azarus | Azarus is a new game challenge network that allows Gamers and Streamers to engage with each other in unprecedented ways. The core of the Azarus network is a 'smart-challenge' system that creates a new dynamic between and among Streamers and Gamers. As part of the pilot program, Azarus will allow a select number of Rainbow 6 Streamers, viaa proprietary Twitch extension, to award tokens to Viewers who correctly answer real time questions about their streams. Get creative, define your own rules and start challenging your friends on games you love. | $4M | Seed | Feb 01, 2022 |  |
| Stream Captain | Captain.tv makes games for streamers to play live with their viewers! Streamers are the hosts, and viewers play alongside them and each other live on sites like Twitch! | $10M | Series A | Oct 13, 2021 |  |
| Rogue Games | Rogue Games, founded by industry veterans with more than 150+ years of game publishing experience, is a new kind of game company powered by innovative technology and developer-first solutions. Rogue’s portfolio of games, which spans mobile, console, and PC, features award-winning hit titles including Oz: Broken Kingdom™, Sociable Soccer™, WildLife: Puzzle Story, Hexaflip: The Action Puzzler, Super Impossible Road, and many more. Rogue is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in San Mateo and Seattle. For more information, visit www.rogueco.com. | $2M | Seed | May 08, 2020 |  |
| Rogue Games | Rogue Games, founded by industry veterans with more than 150+ years of game publishing experience, is a new kind of game company powered by innovative technology and developer-first solutions. Rogue’s portfolio of games, which spans mobile, console, and PC, features award-winning hit titles including Oz: Broken Kingdom™, Sociable Soccer™, WildLife: Puzzle Story, Hexaflip: The Action Puzzler, Super Impossible Road, and many more. Rogue is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in San Mateo and Seattle. For more information, visit www.rogueco.com. | $1.3M | Seed | Mar 06, 2019 |  |

4 of 4 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Galaxy Digital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/galaxy-digital-lp) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Grishin Robotics](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/grishin-robotics) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Liquid 2 Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/liquid2-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [AET Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/aet-fund) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Animoca Brands](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/animoca-brands-corporation) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Betaworks](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/betaworks) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Playful.AI

VC Fund



2 contacts available at Playful.AI.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mark Pincus | Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mark-pincus |
| Mike Verdu | Co-founder & co-CEO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mike-verdu |

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## Featured in investor lists
- [Video Games Angel Investors](https://shizune.co/investors/video-games-angel-investors)
- [Video Games Angel Investors in United States](https://shizune.co/investors/video-games-angel-investors-united-states)
- [Publishing Angel Investors](https://shizune.co/investors/publishing-angel-investors)

## FAQ

### What does Mike Verdu invest in?

Mike Verdu invests primarily in Gaming, Software and Video Games startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 4 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Mike Verdu's check size?

Mike Verdu typically joins rounds of $1.3M–$4M at Seed. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Mike Verdu participates in.

### When did Mike Verdu last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Mike Verdu closed in Feb 2022. Shizune tracks 4 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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