How PortalOne Raised $75 Million For A New Gaming Category
PortalOne raised $75M from Coatue and Founders Fund to create a new category of “hybrid games.” This is the playbook for raising big money on a grand vision, not just incremental traction.
TL;DR: PortalOne’s $75M raise offers a blueprint for founders with ambitious, category-creating ideas. The key is to pair a grand vision with concrete next steps, leverage founder credibility (even if it’s your first time), and get out of stealth mode to build momentum early. This guide breaks down the tactics you can use to pitch a big idea and attract top-tier VCs.
Key takeaways
- Sell the grand vision, but ground it in a concrete 12-month plan.
- Ditch stealth mode. Building in public attracts talent, users, and investors.
- Founder credibility is key. If you’re a first-timer, manufacture it by becoming a visible expert.
- Top-tier VCs want warm intros. Map your network relentlessly to find the strongest path.
- Your pitch deck needs to answer: Why this, why now, and why you? Justify the massive market.
- For large rounds, your “use of funds” slide is critical. Detail how capital translates to milestones.
You don’t raise $75 million, you assemble it.
When PortalOne, a startup building a new category of “hybrid games,” raised $75 million from top-tier investors like Coatue, Temasek, and Founders Fund, it wasn’t because they had a good idea. It was because they had a story, a strategy, and a plan that made a massive, ambitious vision feel inevitable.
For you, the founder trying to raise for your own world-changing idea, this isn’t just a headline. It’s a playbook. Raising capital for a category-defining company is a different game than raising for a SaaS tool with predictable ARR. You’re selling a future that doesn’t exist yet. Let’s break down the tactics required.
The Unfair Advantage of the Second-Time Founder
PortalOne’s founder, Bård Anders Kasin, is a second-time founder. This is a massive advantage. Investors are pattern-matchers. A founder who has previously built a company, hired a team, and managed a P&L is significantly de-risked. They have a pre-built network and a track record.
If you're a first-time founder, you can't fake this. But you can build your own version of it.
How to Manufacture Credibility From Scratch
- Become the expert: Start writing, speaking, or building a following around the problem you solve. A blog with deep industry insights or a widely shared analysis on Twitter can make you "the person" for that space. Investors fund people they believe are obsessed with and uniquely suited to a problem.
- Build in public: Document your journey. Share your learnings, your small wins, your customer discovery process. This builds social proof and makes investors feel like they’re part of the journey before you even pitch them.
- Advise or angel invest: Even if it’s just
,000, participating in other startups gives you a view from the other side of the table and expands your network. Advising a slightly earlier-stage company in your space demonstrates expertise.
Selling a Future They Can’t See Yet
PortalOne aims to merge gaming with live shows. This is a "hybrid" concept that isn’t easily defined by existing categories. Pitching a novel product is a common failure point for founders. You’re excited about the future, but investors are worried about the risk.
The Common Mistake: Pitching the Vision, Not the Plan
Continue reading the full guide
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