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Pengu Creator Slay Raised $5M for a Social Gaming Platform

Slay’s $5 million round, led by Accel, was intended to grow Pengu from a virtual-pet app toward a social gaming platform with content from players and studios.
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Berlin-based startup Slay announced a $5 million funding round led by Accel to build social features and content creation around Pengu, its virtual-pet game. The plan was to expand Pengu toward a platform where players and professional studios could create games and worlds—not to fund a separate gaming device.

When did Slay raise the $5 million?

The round’s dates depend on what is being dated. Legal adviser NEON published its deal announcement on February 25, 2024, while GamesBeat reported on the financing on June 20, 2024. The June article is a media report, not evidence that the money was raised that day. NEON’s deal announcement and GamesBeat’s report describe the $5 million round led by Accel.

What is Pengu?

Pengu is a virtual-pet app in which players raise a digital penguin, play mini-games, and connect with friends or family. One social feature lets people share care of a pet, or “co-parent” it. Slay CEO Fabian Kamberi described a cooperative loop in which feeding Pengus and playing a mini-game could earn coins and a reward that friends felt they had achieved together.

What did Slay plan to build with the funding?

Slay said it would use the funding to develop social features and content creation around Pengu. Its stated ambitions included customizable games and characters, exploring AI features, and expanding a developer platform so users and commercial studios could make content and worlds within the app.

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Those were plans, not a promise that every feature was already available. At the time of GamesBeat’s report, Slay had integrated some developer-created games and was in discussions with other studios. Kamberi described the broader goal as letting players fulfill stories they imagine with Pengu’s virtual pets and, eventually, other characters.

Who invested in Slay?

Accel led the round. Other named participants reported for the financing were Laton VC; Scooter Braun, CEO of HYBE America; Riccardo Zacconi, King co-founder; Johannes Heinze, Popcore co-founder; Ilkka Paananen, Supercell co-founder and CEO; and Lior Shiff, Tripledot co-founder and CEO. Accel partner Luca Bocchio said the firm was continuing its partnership with Slay as the company expanded its ecosystem and intellectual property.

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How large was Slay in 2024?

GamesBeat reported company figures that Slay provided in June 2024. They describe different measures and should not be read as independently audited results or as a current user count.

  • Across Slay’s apps: more than 2.5 million monthly active users, 650,000 daily active users, and more than 10 million downloads.
  • For Pengu: more than 500,000 daily active users and nearly 100,000 App Store ratings, reported after its late-2023 launch.
  • Revenue: Kamberi said 2024 revenue to date was 10 times 2023 revenue. This was his statement, not an independently audited result.
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What happened to Slay after the round?

Slay later changed its name to Born. In September 2025, TechCrunch reported that Born had raised a further $15 million Series A, bringing its reported total funding to $25 million. The story described Pengu as a freemium AI companion app with an optional Pengu Pass, a shift in framing from the social virtual-pet game discussed in 2024. TechCrunch’s September 2025 report said Born had more than 15 million users globally, but had not disclosed how many were paying customers. That user figure is not a subscriber count. Accel’s recruiting page also described the company as Born and reported $25 million raised to date. Accel Jobs

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