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Rise of Fearless, the African-owned battle royale mobile game inspired by African history and culture, has secured US$1 million in funding from advisory firm Epic Edges Capital.
The capital injection, structured as a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE), will support Rise of Fearless's next phase of growth, with investment in talent, technology, infrastructure, marketing, and community-building to strengthen the game and expand its audience beyond its existing markets. The investment will also bring experienced international developers and gaming executives into the team as the company scales.
Launched in 2025, Rise of Fearless is built around an African perspective on the battle royale genre, drawing narrative inspiration from Ethiopia's historic 1896 victory at the Battle of Adwa. Its characters, environments, hairstyles and attire are intentionally designed to reflect African identities and experiences, offering players an alternative to the Western-centric narratives and visual tropes that have traditionally dominated mainstream gaming.
Rise of Fearless is being built as an African-owned gaming IP with global ambitions. Rooted in African history and culture, the original universe is designed to reach international audiences while retaining African creative and commercial ownership.
The free-to-play mobile game on the Apple App Store and Google Play has surpassed 15,000 downloads, with its largest player communities currently in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa.
The new team brings together senior experience from across the global gaming industry, spanning game development, publishing, marketing and investment.
Commenting, Kanessa Muluneh, Founder of Rise of Fearless, said: "We couldn't be more excited about our new team taking an African-owned gaming franchise to international distribution and commercial scale."
The team includes:
Speaking on the new funding, Muluneh added, "The launch of Rise of Fearless filled a gap in the gaming space, but it has also forced us to think beyond game downloads, shifting our focus towards a much wider African gaming ecosystem where African intellectual ownership and talent development are key. As a bootstrapped company, this investment is pivotal to our ambitions and the future of African gaming. We are grateful to partner with Epic Edges to support us on this exciting journey."
Muluneh plans to use its growth to help address some of the structural challenges facing African gaming companies, including access to reliable technology, servers and cross-border payment infrastructure, while creating opportunities for international expertise to contribute to the development of local capabilities.
Remco Coerman, Founder of Epic Edges Group, added: "Rise of Fearless represents the kind of ambitious, culturally rooted IP that has the potential to resonate far beyond its home market. We believe there is a significant opportunity for African creators to build globally relevant gaming experiences that reflect the continent's stories, identities and talent. We're proud to invest in the game as it strengthens its team, scales its development capabilities and continues building an ecosystem where African and international talent can collaborate and create for a global audience."
This milestone comes at a time of growing momentum across Africa's gaming industry, where the continent is home to over 400 million gamers, with gaming revenue reaching $1.98 billion in 2026. Mobile gaming accounts for the majority of this activity, reflecting Africa's mobile-first digital economy and the growing accessibility of smartphones.
Rise of Fearless aims to demonstrate what African-owned gaming IP can become when it has access to the capital, expertise and infrastructure needed to scale, creating a pathway for African studios and creators to develop and retain globally relevant IP.
