Fortnite maker Epic Games acquires British start-up SuperAwesome

Fornite maker Epic Games has reached a deal to acquire SuperAwesome, the London-headquartered “kidtech” business which was founded by Irish entrepreneur Dylan Collins in 2013.

SuperAwesome will remain independent as part of the deal and its headquarters will remain in London. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although insiders said SuperAwesome investors will see a healthy return as a result of the sale.

The company operates its “Kids Web Services” technology which helps developers to build software which is appropriate for children to use.

It has worked with clients including LEGO, NBC Universal and Hasbro and its technology is used by more than 500 million children every month.

SuperAwesome is expected to continue its client work, although a sale to Epic Games is likely to see its technology integrated into video games such as Fortnite in the coming months.

The sale to Epic Games comes after Microsoft’s venture capital wing led a $17m (£13m) investment round into SuperAwesome in January. As well as Microsoft’s M12 Ventures, investors in the business include Deliveroo backer Hoxton Ventures and Mayfair Equity Partners.

SuperAwesome’s latest set of accounts, filed last year, show the business doubled its revenues to £21m and trimmed its losses from £6.5m to £4.7m in 2018.

The Telegraph reported last year that SuperAwesome had held talks with major banks about a possible float in either London or New York which could have valued the business as high as $600m.

Tim Sweeney, the chief chief executive of Epic Games, said: “More kids interact online than ever before and now is the time to double down on their safety. SuperAwesome is the company developers want to work with to make better online content for kids.”