Simon Hade
About Simon Hade
Simon Hade is based in London. Crunchbase lists him as a founder and COO of Space Ape Games, and he studied at the University of Queensland. Tracxn dates his start in the startup ecosystem to 2012 with Space Ape Games, a mobile games studio. Trade press describes him as co-founder of the studio, which made Samurai Siege, Transformers: Earth Wars and Beatstar, and which was later sold to Supercell.
In January 2025, NextBeat was spun out of Space Ape Games. Hade and Olly Barnes, the founders of Space Ape, led it, and Hade was its CEO. PocketGamer.biz later covered the NextBeat team joining Duolingo. His LinkedIn profile says he is working on New Subjects for Duolingo.
Crunchbase lists three personal investments: Levellr (seed), One Rule Games (seed) and Zoe Studios (angel). Startup.eu records one European investment, the Levellr seed dated 2026-01-29.
Zoe Studios is a mobile chess developer. Its angel round also included several games-industry executives, including the CEOs of Jagex, Madbox and Turborilla. Round sizes and Hade's own check sizes are not disclosed in the sources reviewed.
Levellr is the one AI round on record. It is an AI insights platform that helps brands and game studios monitor Discord and other community platforms. It raised a $2.5M seed in January 2026, led by Fuel Ventures. Other participants named in the announcements were Workplay Ventures, Bing Gordon, Frank Gibeau, Phil Mansell, Norman Cheuk and Playformant. Fuel Ventures' announcement identifies Hade as a Space Ape founder.
His public investments are all in games or games-adjacent companies at seed or angel stage, and all are based in or connected to Europe. Tracxn lists gaming among the sectors he has focused on. Levellr applies AI to community data for game companies, so his AI exposure so far sits inside gaming. He has not published a check size or a statement of investment criteria that we could find. Founders should confirm fit with him directly.
- Levellr: AI insights platform for Discord communities, built for brands and game studios. Seed round of $2.5M, January 2026.
- Zoe Studios: mobile chess developer. Angel round, year not confirmed in sources.
- One Rule Games: listed on Crunchbase as a seed investment. Details and date not confirmed.
- crunchbase.com/person/simon-hade
- crunchbase.com/organization/space-ape
- crunchbase.com/organization/space-ape/profiles_and_contacts
- tracxn.com/d/people/simon-hade/__oswIIfmAGO2jIkMVcV2TzsMvA6uKBKsC1R9b9
- startup.eu/investors/3kq7IA
- app.dealroom.co/companies/levellr
- fuel.ventures/leading-discord-ai-insights-platform-levellr-raises-25m-
- pulse2.com/levellr-2-5-million-funding
Investing activity
Simon Hade appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $3M. The most recent is Levellr (Seed, $2.5M, Jan 2026).
Simon Hade most often invests alongside Fuel Ventures, Bing Gordon, Founded in 2014 and Frank Gibeau, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Simon Hade
Who is Simon Hade?
Simon Hade is a London-based angel investor and co-founder of the mobile games studio Space Ape Games. He later led NextBeat, which spun out of Space Ape in January 2025, and he now works at Duolingo.
Has Simon Hade invested in AI startups?
Yes. He took part in the $2.5M seed round for Levellr in January 2026. Levellr is an AI insights platform for Discord communities, and Fuel Ventures led the round.
What stage does Simon Hade invest in?
His publicly listed investments are seed and angel rounds. Crunchbase shows Levellr and One Rule Games as seed rounds and Zoe Studios as an angel round.
What is Simon Hade's check size?
It is not public. None of the sources we reviewed state his individual check size.
What sectors does Simon Hade back?
His known deals are in gaming and games-related technology. That includes the AI community-insights platform Levellr and the mobile chess studio Zoe Studios.
Where is Simon Hade based?
Crunchbase and Tracxn list him in London, United Kingdom.
Is Simon Hade an angel investor?
Yes. Simon Hade invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Simon Hade invested in?
Simon Hade's AI investments include Levellr. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Simon Hade invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Simon Hade has invested at Seed, with a median round of $3M.
Who does Simon Hade co-invest with?
Simon Hade's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Fuel Ventures (1 deal), Bing Gordon (1 deal), Founded in 2014 (1 deal), Frank Gibeau (1 deal) and Phil Mansell (1 deal).