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• Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest guideline, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. Volkan Guerel (talk) 15:45, 4 February 2026 (UTC)

Layer AI, Inc. (branded as Layer) is an American artificial intelligence company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 2022 and launched in February 2023, the company develops a generative AI platform designed specifically for video game developers to create and manage 2D, 3D, and video game assets. Layer positions itself as an enterprise-ready, model-agnostic platform that integrates with existing game production pipelines, enabling studios to accelerate asset creation while maintaining brand consistency and artistic control.^[1]

The company has attracted significant investment from gaming industry veterans, including Riccardo Zacconi (co-founder of King, makers of Candy Crush Saga) and Akin Babayigit (co-founder of Tripledot Studios). As of 2025, Layer reports serving over 300 game studios worldwide, including major companies such as Zynga, SciPlay, Huuuge Games, and Machine Zone.^[2]

Layer was founded in November 2022 by a team of professionals with backgrounds in artificial intelligence, gaming, and computer vision. The founding team consists of Volkan Gurel as CEO, F. Burcu Ozcengiz (also known as Burcu Hakguder) as Chief Revenue Officer, and Mehmet Ecevit as an investor and board member.^[3]

Volkan Gurel, the CEO, holds a background in engineering and management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he studied under pioneers in artificial intelligence. Prior to founding Layer, he held technical leadership positions at companies including Hunch, Airware, and Coinbase. Burcu Ozcengiz spent seven years at Unity Technologies, where she held multiple leadership positions across various product divisions in London and San Francisco, contributing to the company's path to its initial public offering. Mehmet Ecevit is a self-taught technical artist and game developer who co-founded Gram Games, which was acquired by Zynga in 2018.^[3]

The company was formally incorporated in July 2023 in San Francisco, California. Layer launched its first version of the platform in February 2023 and quickly began serving clients including Tripledot Studios, SciPlay, and Mag Interactive.^[3]

In November 2023, Layer announced the closing of a $1.8 million seed funding round. The investment included participation from notable angels with backgrounds in advertising technology and gaming, including Jim Payne, Elena Silenok, and Taimur Rashid. Gaming industry angels such as Akin Babayigit (co-founder of Tripledot Studios), Michele Attisani, and Dilpesh Parmar also participated. Venture capital firms involved in the round included The Games Fund, The Games Syndicate, GFR Fund, Laton Ventures, Breakpoint Capital, and 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups). Devoted Studios, a US-based art and co-development house, made a strategic investment in the company.^[3]

In May 2025, Layer closed a larger $6.5 million seed funding round. This round was led by Arcadia Gaming Partners (a fund founded by Akin Babayigit) and an investment vehicle connected to Riccardo Zacconi, co-founder and former CEO of King, the studio behind Candy Crush Saga. Existing investor e2.vc (formerly 500 Emerging Europe) also participated. As part of this funding, Akin Babayigit joined Layer's Board of Directors. The total funding raised by Layer is approximately $8.3 million across its seed rounds.^[1]

Following its launch in February 2023, Layer rapidly expanded its customer base. By November 2023, the company was serving numerous game studios. By May 2025, the company reported that more than 200 studios, including Zynga, Tripledot Studios, SciPlay, Huuuge Games, Machine Zone, and IGT, had integrated Layer into their production pipelines. By late 2025, this number had grown to over 300 studios.^[1][4]

The company achieved SOC 2 Type II compliance, demonstrating its commitment to enterprise security standards. Layer also developed a Unity plugin, available on the Unity Asset Store, to facilitate direct integration with the popular game engine. The company expanded its platform capabilities from primarily 2D image generation to include 3D asset creation and video generation.^[5]

Layer offers a generative AI platform designed as an integrated solution for game asset production. The platform is marketed as "model-agnostic," meaning it can integrate with and utilize various AI foundation models rather than being tied to a single proprietary model. This approach allows users to leverage capabilities from models developed by companies including OpenAI, Meta, and Stability AI.^[1]

The platform supports multi-modal content creation, including 2D images, 3D assets, and video content. Key features include custom AI model training, allowing artists to train models on their own artwork to maintain style consistency; a real-time canvas tool (called "Live Canvas") for sketch-to-image workflows with immediate visual feedback; batch generation capabilities for creating multiple asset variants; and integration with industry-standard creative tools including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, Blender, Autodesk Maya, Unreal Engine, Unity, and Godot.^[6]

Layer emphasizes enterprise readiness as a key differentiator. The platform offers SOC 2 Type II compliance, single sign-on (SSO) capabilities, role-based access controls, and audit trails. The company provides different pricing tiers, including a free tier for individual users and paid plans for teams and enterprise clients.^[6]

Layer's platform supports various game development workflows, including creation of in-game assets such as characters, backgrounds, UI elements, and items; live operations (live ops) content for ongoing game updates; marketing and advertising creative assets; and user acquisition materials. The company reports that client studios have experienced significant productivity improvements, with some reporting up to 3x increases in production speed.^[3]

Layer operates in the emerging market for AI-powered game asset generation tools. The company competes with other platforms targeting game developers, including Scenario.gg (which focuses on custom AI model training for game assets) and Leonardo.Ai (a general-purpose AI image generation platform with features tailored to game development). Broader competitors in the generative AI image space include Midjourney, DALL-E, Adobe Firefly, and Stable Diffusion.^[5]

Layer differentiates itself through its exclusive focus on the gaming industry, its model-agnostic architecture allowing integration of multiple AI models, and its emphasis on enterprise features and compliance. The company positions itself as providing an integrated solution for professional game studios rather than a general-purpose creative tool.^[1]

• Volkan Gurel (Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer): Gurel holds degrees from MIT, where he studied engineering and management under AI researchers. His career includes positions at Hunch (acquired by eBay), Airware (a drone company), and Coinbase (the cryptocurrency exchange).^[3]
• F. Burcu Ozcengiz (Hakguder) (Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer): Ozcengiz spent seven years at Unity Technologies, where she worked in multiple client-facing and business development roles across the company's advertising and game services divisions in London and San Francisco. She also previously worked at LoopMe, an advertising technology company.^[7]

The board of directors includes the co-founders alongside prominent gaming industry figures. Akin Babayigit, co-founder of Tripledot Studios (a mobile gaming company valued at over $1.4 billion) and former executive at Facebook and King, joined the board following the May 2025 funding round. Riccardo Zacconi, co-founder and former CEO of King, serves as an investor and advisor. Mehmet Ecevit, co-founder of Gram Games (acquired by Zynga in 2018), serves as an investor and board member. Other advisors include Emory Irpan and Matt Omernick, who have expertise in gaming, AI, and creative technology.^[1]

Layer's investor base includes a mix of venture capital firms and individual angel investors with gaming and technology backgrounds. Major institutional investors include Arcadia Gaming Partners (Akin Babayigit's fund), The Games Fund, GFR Fund, Laton Ventures, 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups), e2.vc (formerly 500 Emerging Europe), The Games Syndicate, Breakpoint Capital, and Recursion Venture Capital.^[3][1]

Notable individual investors include Riccardo Zacconi (King co-founder, whose company was acquired by Activision Blizzard for $5.9 billion in 2016), Akin Babayigit (Tripledot Studios co-founder), Michele Attisani (FACEIT co-founder), Elena Silenok, Jim Payne, Taimur Rashid and Dilpesh Parmar.^[3]

• Generative artificial intelligence
• AI-generated art
• Video game development
• Digital asset management

• Official website

Category:Artificial intelligence companies Category:Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Video game development companies Category:American companies established in 2022 Category:2022 establishments in California Category:Generative AI