Layer was founded by Volkan Gurel, Burcu Hakguder in 2023.

Who are Layer's investors?

Layer's investors include 500 Emerging Europe, Breakpoint Capital, FJ Labs, Hummingbird Ventures, Laton Ventures, The Games Fund, New Enterprise Associates (NEA).

Where is Layer headquartered?

Layer is headquartered in San Francisco, US.

Layer

San Francisco, US · Founded 2023 · 38 employees on LinkedIn · 7 known investors

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Layer is a creative automation platform that uses AI to help game studios scale production across the asset creation lifecycle. The platform is designed for professional studios of all sizes to accelerate creative workflows while maintaining artistic control.

AI & Machine Learning Creator Economy Gaming Marketing Tech

Founders & leadership

Layer was founded in 2023 by Volkan Gurel and Burcu Hakguder.

Volkan Gurel Co-founder & CEOVolkan Gurel is Co-founder and CEO of Layer, a creative automation platform that uses AI to help game studios scale asset production. He has expertise in machine learning, distributed systems architecture, databases, and optimization.

Burcu Hakguder Co-founder & CROBurcu Hakguder spent a decade working with game studios on marketing operations before co-founding Layer, a creative automation platform that uses AI-powered workflows to help marketing teams scale asset production for performance-driven entertainment brands.

Investors · 7

500 Emerging Europelisted by 500 Emerging EuropeAmsterdam

Breakpoint Capitallisted by Breakpoint CapitalAspen

How we know: Breakpoint Capital's portfolio page · a partner's Signal profile · Not right? Tell us

FJ Labslisted by FJ LabsNew York · $100K – $3M

How we know: fjlabs.com · Not right? Tell us

Hummingbird Ventureslisted by Hummingbird VenturesSint-Joost-Ten-Node, Brussels · $500K – $10M

How we know: Hummingbird Ventures's portfolio page · the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us

Laton Ventureslisted by Laton VenturesAmsterdam

How we know: Laton Ventures's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us

The Games Fundlisted by The Games FundLimassol

How we know: The Games Fund's portfolio page · a partner's Signal profile · the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us

New Enterprise Associates (NEA)reportedMenlo Park · $200K – $40M

How we know: lincolnjournal.com · Not right? Tell us

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

Undisclosed amountSeries aJul 2026
NEA (lead)
Source ↗

Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.

Related companies · 7

Rosebud AIRosebud AI provides generative AI tools that enable users to create games and immersive interactive experiences without requiring extensive technical expertise. The platform uses code generation, video models, 3D generation, and music generation to democratize game development for creators of all skill levels.

OpenArtOpenArt Worlds is an AI tool that turns a single image or text prompt into a navigable 3D environment, letting users place characters, objects, and lighting and control camera angles. It targets filmmakers, game designers, social media creators, and architects, with export to 3D Gaussian Splat format for tools like Blender and Unreal Engine.

ItchThis page is a listing/search results page on itch.io showing games available for the Linux platform, not a company website.

ImagineImagineArt provides AI-powered creative tools designed to help professional and beginner creators produce high-quality results easily. The platform was built to address the specific challenges that creative professionals face in their workflows.

Unity TechnologiesUnity is a cross-platform real-time development engine and creation platform used by content creators and developers to build games and interactive experiences for mobile, PC, console, and extended reality (XR) devices.

falFal provides fast inference for generative AI models, particularly for image and video generation tasks like SDXL and Whisper. The platform serves developers building creative applications and consumer tools at scale.

ScenarioScenario is a creative AI platform that lets teams train custom models on their own art and brand style, then access 600+ image, video, 3D, and audio models to generate on-brand assets. It serves creative teams across industries such as gaming and consumer brands, offering a workspace for creatives, an API for developers, and workflow/agent tools for production at scale.

Companies working in the same space as Layer.

Frequently asked questions

What does Layer do?: Layer is a creative automation platform that uses AI to help game studios scale production across the asset creation lifecycle. The platform is designed for professional studios of all sizes to accelerate creative workflows while maintaining artistic control.
Who founded Layer?: Layer was founded by Volkan Gurel, Burcu Hakguder in 2023.
Who are Layer's investors?: Layer's investors include 500 Emerging Europe, Breakpoint Capital, FJ Labs, Hummingbird Ventures, Laton Ventures, The Games Fund, New Enterprise Associates (NEA).
Where is Layer headquartered?: Layer is headquartered in San Francisco, US.