AppOnboard Inc., a Sawtelle-based video game and app development platform, has raised $20 million in a Series C funding round. 

The funding, announced on Jan. 28, was led by Raine Ventures, an early stage fund from New York-based Raine Group, with participation from Santa Barbara-based Galaxy Venture Capital, New York-based Gaingels and London-based Manta Ray Ventures and London Venture Partners. 

The raise, AppOnboard's largest to date, brings AppOnboard’s total funding to $54 million.

This latest round will be used to scale the company's operations and expand its workforce. It will also be used to increase AppOnboard's creator-focused initiatives, such as closing its user feedback loop, implementing user-centered design processes and releasing more frequent product updates, the company said.

AppOnboard was founded in 2016 and offers a suite of software tools, including AppOnboard Studio and Buildbox, to create 2D and 3D video games and apps without the need to code.

AppOnboard said in a press release that it's seeing an influx of creators building and publishing games using its flagship product Buildbox, which it describes as a “no-code” gaming engine.

“Video games are the next major form of media to be democratized, and we are leading that movement through Buildbox,” Jonathan Zweig, founder and president of AppOnboard, said in a statement. “The next generation of creators are using our tools to express themselves to hundreds of millions of people by building video games.”

In the past three months, according to AppOnboard, nine games created using Buildbox have each reached the top 100 on app store charts, and the software’s global market share has grown 550%.

Former Riot Games, Inc. chief technology officer Mike Seavers joined AppOnboard in July 2020 as chief executive. Since coming to AppOnboard, Seavers has also joined the company’s board of directors.

“We’re engaging them in prioritizing our roadmap, giving direct input into our designs, and delivering more frequent releases,” Seavers said in a statement. “Our success is determined by putting our creators’ needs first and radically simplifying the barriers they encounter to make and share games.”