Agave Games Crossed 10 Million Downloads With a Single Cat

The screen is a riot of color, a digital I Spy book where a hundred tiny stories compete for your attention. A baker carries a tray of bread, a painter balances on a ladder, a couple dances in a courtyard. Your thumb hovers, scanning for the one thing that matters: a small, smug-looking cat, tucked behind a flowerpot. When you find it, a soft chime sounds, the screen glows, and you are invited, almost immediately, to do it all over again. This is the core loop of Find the Cat, a game so simple it feels inevitable, and the engine behind Agave Games’ sudden, $100 million valuation [TechCrunch, December 2024].

In an app economy often chasing complexity or cinematic spectacle, Agave’s bet is on pure, frictionless discovery. The company, founded in 2021 by four former high-school friends in Istanbul, develops and publishes free-to-play mobile puzzle games [agavegames.com]. Its breakout title, launched in the second quarter of 2024, is a “Where’s Wally?”-style hidden-object game where players locate felines in increasingly detailed scenes [TechCrunch, December 2024]. The appeal is universal and wordless, bypassing language barriers and tutorial screens. You are given a crowded illustration and a single goal. The satisfaction is in the finding.

The Istanbul hit factory

Agave is not a story of amateur hobbyists striking gold. It is a deliberate assembly of mobile gaming expertise, reuniting in a new venture. The four co-founders,Alper Oner, Burak Kar, Oğuzhan Merdivenli, and Ali Baran Terzioğlu,cut their teeth at some of Turkey’s most successful casual game studios. Kar and Merdivenli were previously at Good Job Games, a studio behind titles with over 2.5 billion collective installs [Balderton, August 2022]. Terzioğlu was Head of Growth at Fugo Games, where he worked on the massively popular word game Words of Wonders [Balderton, August 2022]. CEO Oner returned to Turkey after the COVID-19 pandemic to start the company with his old friends [TechCrunch, December 2024].

This collective resume gave Agave a foundational advantage: they knew how to build for scale from day one. Their seed round in August 2022, a $7 million check led by Balderton Capital, was predicated on this operational pedigree [Business Insider, August 2022]. The capital was meant to fund the development of their first casual puzzle titles, but the real test would be in the launch.

Find the Cat finds its audience

The traction for Find the Cat has been explosive, validating the team’s hypothesis about global, accessible gameplay. The game reportedly reached 10 million downloads in its first quarter [PocketGamer.biz, December 2024]. By mid-November 2024, it was averaging 250,000 downloads per day and had surpassed 6 million downloads in the preceding 30 days [Mustafa DAGLI - Vento Games | LinkedIn, retrieved 2026]. On Google Play alone, it now shows over 10 million downloads [Find The Cat - Spot It! - Apps on Google Play, retrieved 2026].

This velocity is what prompted Agave’s recent $18 million Series A, co-led by Felix Capital and Balderton Capital with participation from E2VC, which valued the company at around $100 million post-money [TechCrunch, December 2024]. The round brings Agave’s total disclosed funding to $25.5 million [TechCrunch, December 2024]. The use of proceeds is straightforward: scale the hit and build the next one.

2022 Seed | 7 | M USD
2024 Series A | 18 | M USD

The operational wedge

Agave’s differentiation lies less in a technological breakthrough and more in a refined production model. The company has described using artificial intelligence for the initial creation of the game’s dense, whimsical artwork, which is then polished by human artists [Startup Intros]. This hybrid approach aims to accelerate content creation,a critical need for a game that thrives on a steady stream of new levels,while maintaining a hand-crafted, polished aesthetic. Notably, the company reportedly does not use AI in its coding, focusing the technology purely on the creative asset pipeline [VC Magazine, retrieved 2026].

The model is designed for efficiency and repeatability. The goal is not just to have one hit, but to institutionalize the process of creating globally appealing casual puzzle games. The open roles on Agave’s careers page, which include positions for game developers, growth specialists, and motion designers, signal a studio in build mode, staffing up to support multiple titles [agavegames.com/careers].

The risks of a one-hit wonder

The most obvious question for Agave is one of sequel risk. The mobile gaming landscape is littered with studios that had a single meteoric hit but failed to replicate its success. Find the Cat’s download numbers are impressive, but the true test of longevity will be in user retention and monetization,metrics that are not publicly detailed. Furthermore, the hidden-object genre, while evergreen, is also fiercely competitive and subject to trends.

Agave’s answer to this risk is embedded in its team and its funding. The founders’ prior experience at studios that managed portfolios of hits, not just single games, is their strongest counter-argument. The $18 million Series A provides a multi-year runway to develop and test new titles without the desperate pressure to immediately monetize the current hit. The bet from Felix Capital and Balderton’s continued support suggests investors are buying into the studio thesis, not just the cat game.

What to watch in the next year

The next twelve months will be about proving the factory model. Key milestones will include:

• The second act. The performance of Agave’s other title, Wonder Link (which has 100K+ downloads on Google Play), and any new game launches will be the clearest signal of repeatable success [Wonder Link - Apps op Google Play, retrieved 2026].
• Monetization depth. How Agave evolves Find the Cat’s in-game economy and advertising strategy will determine its revenue trajectory and ultimate ceiling.
• Team scale. Successful hiring into the eight currently open roles will be crucial for expanding development capacity without diluting the studio’s creative culture [agavegames.com/careers].

Ultimately, Agave Games is answering a quiet but persistent cultural question. In a world of infinite distraction and algorithmic feeds that demand our constant engagement, what is the value of a moment of pure, simple focus? The company’s product suggests there is a profound, and perhaps lucrative, appetite for it. It offers a pocket of stillness disguised as a game, a few seconds where the only task is to look, carefully, and find what is hidden. For ten million people and counting, that has been enough.

Sources

1. [TechCrunch, December 2024] Agave, the startup behind Find the Cat, finds $18M | https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/17/agave-the-startup-behind-find-the-cat-finds-18m/
2. [PocketGamer.biz, December 2024] Turkish developer Agave Games gets $18m funding | https://www.pocketgamer.biz/turkish-developer-agave-games-gets-18m-funding/
3. [Business Insider, August 2022] Pitch Deck: Agave Games Raises $7 Million for Casual Gaming | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-agave-games-raises-7-million-hyper-casual-gaming-2022-8
4. [Balderton, August 2022] Agave Games, Turkey's newest casual puzzle game studio, raises $7M seed round | https://www.balderton.com/news/agave-games-turkeys-newest-casual-puzzle-game-studio-raises-7m-seed-round/
5. [agavegames.com] Agave Games | https://www.agavegames.com/
6. [Startup Intros] Agave Games: Funding, Team & Investors | https://startupintros.com/orgs/agave-games
7. [Mustafa DAGLI - Vento Games | LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] LinkedIn post on download metrics | https://www.linkedin.com/in/mustafadagli/
8. [Find The Cat - Spot It! - Apps on Google Play, retrieved 2026] Google Play store page | https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.agavegames.findthecat
9. [Wonder Link - Apps op Google Play, retrieved 2026] Google Play store page | https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.agavegames.wonderlink
10. [VC Magazine, retrieved 2026] Agave Games Creates Find the Cat App and Secures $18 Million in Funding | https://vcmagazine.com/article/agave-games-creates-find-the-cat-app-and-secures-18-million-in-funding/