Echo Chunk AI, the developers of a Wordle-like chess game, raised $1.4M in pre-seed funds

Echo Chunk is the AI startup behind the viral chess puzzle game Echo Chess. The latter is a free-to-play Wordle-inspired chess puzzle game, where players get to solve a daily puzzle that has cleaning the board as a goal. However, players must be aware that they become each piece they capture. Thus, playing without a strategy could entail getting stuck and unable to clear the remaining pieces on the board. The game has three modes, the Classic and Epic modes are daily puzzles with different difficulty levels, and the AI-generated Blitz mode is a timed infinite mode where players have to the board fast to earn time for the next one.

Although the game has become quite popular since its launch in April 2024, the company is not focused on monetization at this time and intends to keep the web version of Echo Chess free to play. Rather, the company aims to explore the potential of using AI as a copilot in game development. In addition to blitz mode, Echo Games is leveraging AI in the designs of multiplayer modes, new game modes, and new games in general. Finally, it is part of its vision that players can leverage AI to create new boards and puzzles in a platform the company has named Echo Maker. The latter is in alpha testing by a subset of Echo Chess users.

Sami Ramly, founder and CEO of Echo Chunk, recognizes that he is a long-time strategy game fanatic, and that Echo Chess was his chance to profit from AI and put a new spin on the game. Echo Chunk recently raised $1.4 million in pre-seed funding investors, including Andreessen Horowitz's a16z Speedrun, Zynga founder Mark Pincus, and Opendoor CEO Eric Wu. The company plans to use the raised funds to grow its team, improve the Echo Maker platform, develop ways of empowering users to co-create content alongside AI and release more titles farther in the future.