The San Francisco studio was founded by Suli Ali and Ian Spivey in 2009.[3] The company started as a Facebook game developer and switched to a mobile app focus in late 2010.[4] They originally specialized in social video games such as Guess!, Spellstorm, Tiny Castle, Tiny Monsters, Tiny Village, and Tiny Zoo.
In May 2011, the company launched a $5 million investment fund, called the TinyFund, to help support development of mobile games. The TinyFund provided developers up $500,000 per title, to help create games played on the iPhone, iPad or Android. In addition, TinyCo agreed to offer marketing, development and business assistance as needed.[7]
In November 2013, the company raised $20 million in series B funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Pinnacle Ventures. Part of this investment was resolving the company's debt. This funding round was preceded by layoffs at the company[8] and also signified a new strategy that emphasizes deeper game play and higher budget titles such as Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff. Mike O’Brien joined the company's board as a part of this investment round.[9]
In July 2016, TinyCo was acquired by Jam City,[1] the mobile game publisher behind Cookie Jam, Panda Pop, and Genies and Gems.
