Circle Games has secured $7.25m in its latest funding round.

The round, led by Bitkraft Ventures with a16z Speedrun, Play Ventures, e2vc, and APY Ventures, will support the ongoing development of its current project, Sort Express, as well as support unannounced games. The Istanbul-based studio also anticipates using the funding to increase its headcount.

“We want to double down on our talent and scale our first title… The first focus area for Circle is the casual puzzle market, and we know players expect better visuals, better user experiences because the competition is really high compared with 10 years ago,” CEO Gokturk Balıkcı told GamesBeat. “The game should meet players’ expectation in terms of skill.

“Turkey’s biggest hits are from the mobile puzzle genre, so the talent experience is there… We’re trying to innovate in the later game phase for player experience by introducing new mechanics. We think that will be vital for long-term player retention.”

“Circle Games is one of the most promising studios we’ve seen at seed stage,” Bitkraft Ventures partner, Jasper Brand, added.

“They combine deep domain expertise with a strong game sense, fast shipping velocity, and a clear understanding of how to win in today’s mobile gaming market. With their innovation in progression systems, dynamic difficulty, and playable ad strategy, we believe they have all the ingredients to become Turkey’s next major casual gaming success.”