Egyptian Start-Up Nezal Secures $1M Funding

Egyptian game development start-up Nezal has secured $1M in funding, the company revealed. The series A investment round comes primarily from Ideavelopers, with additional funding from Tamkeen Capital. According to the company, the money will go toward releasing "some big titles already in the pipeline," one of which is currently in closed beta: a music game, which is a rarity in the region, according to ArabNet. Nezal was founded by Mohamed Ali, formerly of Gawab.com and eSpace. Included in its staff is Hani El Masri, a graphic illustrator and former Disney imagineer (examples of his design work are here). He also spent time at Dreamworks, contributing to animated films that include Prince of Egypt, El Dorado and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The company has released one title to date: a tower defense game on Facebook called Defender of Arabia.