The European VC (EUVC)
E646 | Alper, Agave Games & Enis Hulli, E2vc: Pivoting Models & Building Global Gaming Success From Turkey
The European VC (EUVC)
•November 5, 2025•49 min
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The European VC (EUVC)•Nov 5, 2025
Key Takeaways
- •Turkey produces two gaming unicorns, fueling a vibrant studio ecosystem.
- •Agave pivoted from publishing to building games in-house.
- •VCs prioritize early founder outreach over data-driven post-funding signals.
- •e2vc targets global founders, emphasizing founder quality over geography.
- •Outbound sourcing shows U-shaped effectiveness across VC experience levels.
Pulse Analysis
Turkey has become a powerhouse in mobile gaming, boasting two unicorns—Peak Games and a second breakout—that have spawned dozens of studios. This fertile ecosystem attracted e2vc’s early bets, including Agave Games, which rode the wave of casual titles like "Find the Cat." After an initial publishing‑first strategy, Agave recognized that the saturated publisher market limited upside and shifted to an in‑house development model, leveraging data‑science expertise to control product cycles and capture higher margins.
The conversation also highlighted evolving venture‑capital sourcing tactics. Enes described an "anti‑data‑driven" approach: rather than chasing founders after they raise, the team scouts potential entrepreneurs months ahead, using outbound outreach, LinkedIn signals, and GitHub activity to engage prospects before they formalize a company. This early‑stage focus aligns with a U‑shaped sourcing curve, where both newcomers and seasoned VCs rely heavily on proactive outreach, while mid‑career investors tend toward inbound pipelines. Prioritizing founder intent over post‑fundraising metrics reduces competition and improves deal quality.
e2vc’s fund model reflects a high‑risk, high‑reward philosophy, seeking 50‑100x returns by backing founders with global ambitions from day one. While many emerging‑market funds concentrate on regional champions, e2vc treats Turkey as a unique hub, citing a dense network of repeat founders and a track record of three unicorns in eight years. This global‑first mindset, combined with a founder‑centric evaluation—often weighted over 100%—positions the firm to capture the next wave of internationally scalable gaming successes, reinforcing the importance of early founder relationships and strategic pivots in today’s venture landscape.
Episode Description
Welcome back to another EUVC Podcast, where we gather Europe’s venture family to share the stories, insights, and lessons that drive our ecosystem forward.
Today we dive into the world of gaming with Alper Oner, Co-founder of Agave Games, and Enis Hulli, General Partner at e2vc. Agave has taken the gaming world by storm with its hit “Find the Cat” — a quirky hidden-object game that has become a global revenue driver, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in daily revenue. But this wasn’t a straight line: Agave started as a publisher, pivoted into building games in-house, and is now raising big rounds to expand with its new hit “What the Hex.”
Agave has taken the gaming world by storm with its hit “Find the Cat” — a quirky hidden-object game that climbed global charts, hitting tens of thousands of dollars in daily revenue and inspiring a wave of imitators. But the road here was far from linear: Agave began as a publisher, pivoted to a studio model, and has since raised an $18M Series A led by Baldur’s Gate Capital, Felicis, and e2vc to fuel its next big title — “What the Hex.”
Together, Enis and Alper unpack how to back founders over ideas, pivot at the right time, and scale when metrics explode — all while explaining why Turkey has quietly become Europe’s mobile gaming superpower.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:10 Introduction: Andreas sets the stage with Alper (Agave) & Enis (E2VC), and why Turkey is Europe’s gaming powerhouse.
05:00 Origins: Alper’s pivot from San Francisco data science to mobile gaming, founding Agave with high school friends.
10:00 Publisher Model Pivot: Why Agave started as a publisher, why the space saturated, and how they decided to build games in-house.
15:00 Betting on Founders: Enis on why pivots are inevitable, and why VCs back founders over ideas.
20:00 Turkey’s Gaming Wave: From Peak Games to 80+ new studios, how the ecosystem multiplies talent and capital.
25:00 Cracking the Code: How “Find the Cat” scaled from intuition to top charts, with ROAS and retention metrics off the charts.
30:00 The Cat Effect: Why cats trend globally, the copycats that followed, and why Agave resists “reskinning.”
35:00 What the Hex: Agave’s next title in the booming sorting genre, its differentiating mechanics, and early fan addiction stories.
40:00 Raising $18M: How Agave closed its Series A with Baldur’s Gate Capital, Felicis, and E2VC, and why they chose speed over maximum valuation.
45:00 Lessons Learned: Alper on vision-setting before execution, Enis on prorata strategy, and why gaming is Pixar, not SaaS.
50:00 Future of Gaming: Will the industry move towards blockbusters or niches, and why agility across multiple titles is now key.
Show Notes
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