August 26, 2026 // Franchising.com // ZAGREB, Croatia — Friendly Fire, the rapidly expanding gaming café franchise and esports hub born and based in Croatia, has closed a $4.7 million Series A funding round with AYMO Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Zagreb, Croatia that provides funding and strategic support to technology startups and growing businesses.
The capital is earmarked for accelerating Friendly Fire’s ongoing international expansion efforts, further developing the company's proprietary technology platform, and strengthening its franchisee support systems.
"Our success is built on our own experience and years of optimizing processes to ensure we hand our franchise partners an excellent model in which to invest their capital. That's why we can be so confident today about what works, and why we can guarantee success to franchisees who stick to our standard," said Friendly Fire founder and CEO David Kosir. "With this investment and with a partner like AYMO Ventures, we now have real wind at our backs and everything we need to deliver on our vision and become the largest gaming cafe chain in the world."
AYMO Ventures added, “Friendly Fire is focused on a market that has always been fragmented and local, and it's giving that market a genuinely connected system. Alongside the operational know-how, the technology layer is the part that's easiest to overlook from the outside, and it's precisely what turns a good gaming cafe into a network that gets stronger with every new opening. It matters just as much that this is a team that proved the model at its own locations, with its own money, before offering it to anyone else. We're looking forward to working with David and his team through this next phase of growth.”
Founded in Zagreb in 2017, Friendly Fire began as a visionary project by Kosir and a group of gaming enthusiasts who wanted to create more than just a place to play, aiming instead to build a modern, social environment where both casual gamers and competitive players could gather, connect, and compete. Today, the burgeoning brand operates a total of 22 company- and franchise-owned locations across six countries, blending cutting-edge gaming equipment, immersive social spaces, and a dynamic calendar of amateur tournaments and esports events.
The brand’s growing global community includes more than 220,000 gamers on the Friendly Fire platform, while its locations have hosted more than 1,000 amateur esports tournaments to date.
Friendly Fire’s international expansion continues to gain significant momentum, with 31 franchise agreements signed to date, representing a pipeline of 178 additional locations across 11 countries.
Friendly Fire’s next major milestone comes September 4, when the company will open three new locations on the same day: its first in Limassol, Cyprus; its first in Rijeka, Croatia; and its third in Vienna, Austria. The simultaneous openings represent Friendly Fire’s most geographically diverse launch to date, underscoring the scalability of its franchise model across established Western European markets, Mediterranean destinations, and regional cities throughout Croatia.
Just 13 days later, on September 17, Friendly Fire will take its international growth story to Brussels for the European Franchise Awards, where it will be the only Croatian company represented. The brand is competing for the prestigious International Brand of the Year award, which recognizes franchise concepts that have achieved outstanding success in international expansion.
Marking yet another defining moment in the company’s global vision, Friendly Fire seeks to bring its social gaming café experience into one of the world’s largest and most influential gaming and esports markets. By entering the United States, Friendly Fire aims to replicate the formula that has fueled its European success while adapting to local gaming cultures and communities.
The U.S. expansion is initially targeting Florida and Texas—two of America’s largest and fastest-growing gaming markets—with plans to open multiple locations across major metropolitan areas in both states over the next few years.
SOURCE Friendly Fire
The brand blends cutting-edge gaming equipment with immersive, social-driven spaces, creating an environment where players and fans connect.