South African startup Carry1st, a gaming startup-turned-consumer payments provider, has partnered Audiomack, one of the world’s leading music streaming and discovery platforms, to make it easier than ever for Audiomack’s customers in Africa to purchase subscriptions to stream their favourite artists using local payment methods.
Founded in 2018 and based in Cape Town, Carry1st is a mobile games publisher serving the first generation of African smartphone users, which has so far reached millions of users across the region.
The startup has partnered with the likes of Activision, Supercell, and Riot Games to help scale games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Valorant, and has launched games including Africa Glam (Nanobit), Mancala Adventures, SpongeBob Krusty Cook-Off, Ludo Blitz and Mine Rescue for gamers in Africa. It has also launched a proprietary payments and online marketplace, Pay1st, that enables consumers to pay for digital items via a range of local payment options, such as mobile money, popular digital wallets, and bank transfer, to better monetise content.
Carry1st has raised over US$60 million in funding, and counts Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), BITKRAFT, Google, Riot Games, Nas, and Sony as investors.
Its new partnership with Audiomack signifies Carry1st’s expansion beyond gaming, highlighting its growing diversity of content. The Carry1st Shop offers seamless access to a wide range of products, including daily essentials like airtime, data, and electricity, as well as game gift cards and top-ups, and lifestyle and entertainment vouchers.
Audiomack, Africa’s leading music streaming platform, serves millions of African music fans. With a strong focus on emerging and independent artists, particularly in the hip-hop, rap, and Afrobeats genres, Audiomack is the top-ranked music streaming app on Apple iOS in Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Senegal, and Kenya.
Audiomack’s day, week, and month pass subscriptions will be available for purchase via the Carry1st Shop in local currencies in Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Uganda, and Senegal. Subscriptions allow music fans to remove ads, unlock special app features, and bring their support of artists to the next level. This includes unlimited downloads, downloaded playlists, HiFi streaming and more.
“We’re really excited to be partnering with such an important platform like Audiomack, which champions entertainment and shares our passion for providing options to African consumers in the entertainment space. This partnership is a testament to our growth and the versatility of the Carry1st Shop. Not only are we unlocking popular games, but we’re now also unlocking the music that people love,” said Guillaume Noé, VP of growth for platform at Carry1st.
