Israeli Startup ReachPlayers Generates Millions by Integrating Brands into Video Games

Michael Anu, the 29-year-old founder and CEO of ReachPlayers, has built a company that generates millions by enabling major brands to advertise within popular video games like Fortnite and Roblox. The company, based in Sderot, facilitates these integrations without disrupting the player experience or requiring separate deals with each game developer. Anu's journey began with a bold pitch to Samsung, presenting his vision for in-game advertising before having a tangible product. This led to a 350,000 shekel contract, making Samsung ReachPlayers' first client.

Anu's entrepreneurial spirit emerged early; by age 13, he was selling game servers. After serving in the military, he co-founded his first startup, Pablo, a tech solutions company for marketing, with his friend Uria Franco. They taught themselves the necessary skills and eventually sold Pablo for hundreds of thousands of dollars to an American agency when Anu was 24. Following the sale, Anu experienced a period of unemployment, even working as a waiter before being fired, and later worked at Ben-Gurion University's entrepreneurship center.

The idea for ReachPlayers stemmed from Anu's lifelong passion for gaming and marketing. He observed how brands like Coca-Cola had successfully integrated themselves into games like MapleStory years ago. ReachPlayers offers a platform that allows brands to purchase advertising space across multiple games through a single agreement, providing an additional revenue stream for developers and access to millions of gamers for advertisers. Anu compares the model to Taboola's approach in online content.

ReachPlayers operates in over 12 countries, working with more than 20 companies, and claims to triple its revenue annually without external investment, a concept Anu is hesitant to embrace. The company currently employs six people and plans to expand to 35 by 2027, with projections of reaching $150-200 million in annual revenue within five years. Despite having offices in Tel Aviv, Anu and his family reside in Sderot, a choice he attributes to his Zionist values and a desire to continue his father's legacy of contributing to Israel.

Anu acknowledges that advertising through ReachPlayers is more expensive than traditional social media ads but argues it offers greater engagement due to gamers' focused attention. He notes that Roblox is the most popular game in Israel, with approximately 1.6 million players, significantly more than Fortnite's 400,000. He also challenges the stereotype of gamers, emphasizing that the demographic includes a wide range of ages and genders, including older women who are valuable consumers. ReachPlayers also helps brands navigate content suitability, ensuring ads appear in appropriate game environments.