Video game data startup Fenster Analytics Inc. has raised its first round of funding from Wisconsin venture capital investor Winnow Fund.
The $500,000 investment will allow Middleton-based Fenster to hire two more full-time employees and launch the beta version of its product this summer, Fenster Analytics co-founder and head of business operations Sam Adams said.
Led by Richelle Martin, the Winnow Fund is one of five venture capital funds in the state-sponsored Badger Fund of Funds, designed to increase capital to early-stage Wisconsin startups. Fenster Analytics is the sixth startup the Winnow Fund has invested in.
Fenster is building analytics software designed to help video game developers improve user engagement and monetization. Adams and Fenster Analytics CEO and co-founder Charlie Olson began working on the company in 2020 and became more serious about it in 2022.
The idea behind Fenster, which is the German word for "window," is to provide a look into video game data, which is largely unstructured, Adams said. Those insights could be used to understand player behavior and modify games accordingly to boost retention and monetization.
Fenster is targeting what it estimates are around 5,000 small- and medium-sized game developers worldwide, creating a target market of up to $400 million in the next three years, Adams said.
Olson is a video game developer who previously worked at Madison-based Raven Software on the popular Call of Duty game. He currently lives in Sweden, which according to Adams is a gaming epicenter.
Adams describes himself as a longtime Wisconsin entrepreneur. He previously worked at GE Healthcare and then went on to lead Echometrix, a startup aimed at commercializing quantitative ultrasound technology. He also worked for the medical device developer Stealth Therapeutics and the automated external defibrillator manufacturer Cardiac Science, which sold to Zoll Medical Corp. in 2019.
The Winnow Fund has also backed Middleton-based slot machine app startup SlotCheck Inc., Wauwatosa-based medical device firm RoddyMedical, Eau Claire-based extracurricular activity marketplace Village, Madison-based food and beverage budgeting platform Leysi and drug delivery technology firm Plumb Pharmaceuticals in Madison.
