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Vatar Raises $500K at $10M Valuation as Viral Game Lagos Life Draws Millions
Flutterwave's CEO and the founders of Mono and Terra backed the Nigerian studio about a week after its browser game went live.
Vatar, the Nigerian startup behind the viral browser game Lagos Life, has raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding at a $10 million valuation, about a week after the game launched. The round reportedly closed within a day.
Olugbenga Agboola, co-founder and CEO of Flutterwave, invested through his fund, Resilience17. Mono co-founders Abdulhamid Hassan and Nathan Nwachuku, Terra Industries and tech entrepreneur Oo Nwoye also took part.
What Lagos Life Is
Lagos Life is a browser-based life simulation set in a virtual version of Nigeria's largest city. Players create characters, look for jobs, earn virtual naira, pay rent and interact with one another in a shared world built around the realities of Lagos, from danfo buses and traffic to power cuts, nightlife and small business.
The game went live on October 1, Nigeria's Independence Day, and spread quickly on social media. Within its first week it had drawn millions of players, with total visits climbing into the tens of millions, according to figures shared by the company and reported by BusinessDay and other Nigerian outlets.
The Founder
Vatar is led by Shalom Rayhamen, a Nigerian software developer who built the first version of Lagos Life in a single night using AI tools for research and coding. She has said Lagos is only the starting point, and the game has already added Port Harcourt as its second city.
Early Revenue
Lagos Life is already making money. Vatar sells in-game advertising such as virtual billboards, works with brands including food delivery company Chowdeck, charges musicians to have songs played in virtual clubs and sells virtual currency. Reports put earned and contracted revenue above $170,000 since launch.
The new funding will go toward product development, marketing and hiring. Vatar has also added age verification, message screening and reporting tools as its player base has grown.
Why It Matters
African gaming has long been dominated by imported titles. Lagos Life shows how quickly a game rooted in local culture can find an audience, and how cheaply it can now be built with AI tools. The quick backing from some of Nigeria's best-known fintech founders also signals that local investors are willing to move fast on consumer hits. The challenge now is keeping millions of curious first-week players engaged once the novelty fades.
Source
TechCabal — "Lagos Life maker Vatar raises $500,000 one week after launch"