Ethiopian Gaming Startup Rise of Fearless Raises $1m To Scale African Battle Royale Game

##Big news for African gaming!**

Ethiopian gaming startup Rise of Fearless has raised $1 million to grow its African battle royale game. The money came from advisory firm Epic Edges Capital.

For those who don’t follow startup terms too much, a battle royale game is simple — many players enter one match, fight and try to survive, and the last person standing wins. Rise of Fearless is doing that with an African twist.

The game was launched in 2025 and is free to play on the Apple App Store and Google Play. It draws its story from Ethiopia’s famous victory over Italian forces at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. So instead of just copying foreign games, it is telling an African story with African characters, weapons and history.

So far, the game has passed 15,000 downloads, with its biggest player communities in Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa. The startup was bootstrapped before now, meaning the founder, Kanessa Muluneh, was funding it herself without outside investors. This new funding is structured as a SAFE — basically an agreement that the investor will get shares in the company later, instead of buying them right now.

The money will be used to invest in talent, technology, infrastructure, marketing and community-building. The team also plans to bring in experienced international gaming executives and developers to help the game grow beyond its current markets.

Why does gaming money in Africa stand out? Because gaming is still new for many investors here. Most startup money goes to fintech, logistics or agritech. Gaming is often seen as just play. But Africa now has over 400 million gamers, and gaming revenue is projected to reach $1.98 billion in 2026, with mobile gaming taking most of it. This deal shows investors are finally starting to take African games seriously.

What does this say about Ethiopia’s tech scene? It shows Ethiopia is no longer just on the sidelines. A homegrown studio can build African-owned intellectual property, keep creative control, and still attract international money. If Rise of Fearless succeeds, it can open the door for more Ethiopian and African studios to dream bigger.