What StartPlaying does

StartPlaying is an online two-sided marketplace that connects tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) players with professional Dungeon Masters and Game Masters for live, paid sessions. Founded around 2020 and headquartered in San Francisco, the platform supports 100+ TTRPG systems (including D&D 5e, Pathfinder 2e, Call of Cthulhu, and Vampire: The Masquerade), integrates with major virtual tabletops (Roll20, Foundry VTT, D&D Beyond, Owlbear Rodeo, Fantasy Grounds) and communication tools (Discord, Zoom), and uses Stripe for payments. The company is led by CEO Nate Tucker, COO and co-founder Devon Chulick, and CTO Jared Gollhardt, and operates with a 1–10 person team. Self-reported cumulative scale includes 100,000+ players and 5,000+ GMs listed on the platform.

The core product consists of two interconnected surfaces: a "Find Games" search-and-book marketplace where players filter by system, genre, style, price, and platform, and a "Find Game Masters" directory where players can hire GMs directly. GMs set their own per-session prices (commonly $15–$30, with a $0–$50+ range and free or sliding-scale options), and StartPlaying earns a 15% commission on bookings. The company also offers Learn-to-Play beginner sessions, Kids Games (in development with a waitlist), Corporate Team Building Events, Gift Cards, and recurring community campaigns such as the annual Pride Month charity event benefiting the LGBT National Help Center and the Dungeon Master Class workshop week. GTM is primarily product-led and self-serve, supplemented by content marketing and themed community events. To date the company has raised a $125,000 early round led by Y Combinator (August 2020) and a $6.5 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (May 2022); no later funding rounds are disclosed in the source material.

Name

StartPlaying

Website

https://startplaying.games

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

StartPlaying is an online marketplace connecting tabletop RPG players with professional Dungeon Masters and Game Masters across 100+ game systems, taking a 15% commission on bookings and serving over 100,000 players and 5,000 GMs globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Tabletop RPG Marketplace

NAICS

Amusement Parks and Arcades (7131)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Player-to-Player Marketplaces & Trading Platforms (MPAFAJAE)

Keywords

• Tabletop RPG marketplace
• Online game booking
• Game master platform
• D&D group finder
• Virtual tabletop games

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Platform Commission: StartPlaying charges a 15% commission on bookings made through the platform. Game Masters set their own prices and receive the remaining 85% of session fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

StartPlaying is an online marketplace that connects tabletop RPG players with professional, vetted Game Masters for paid online sessions. The platform enables discovery, booking, and Stripe-backed payment for one-shots and ongoing campaigns across dozens of TTRPG systems, charging a 15% commission on each session. It also supports adjacent offerings including corporate team-building events, gift cards, dungeon master classes, GM workshops, and charity event programming.

Product overview

StartPlaying is an online marketplace platform that connects tabletop roleplaying game players with professional Dungeon Masters and Game Masters for online play. The core product consists of two interconnected marketplaces: a 'Find Games' marketplace where players browse and join scheduled sessions, and a 'Find Game Masters' directory where players can hire professional GMs directly. The platform supports over 100 TTRPG systems including Dungeons & Dragons 5e, Pathfinder 2e, Call of Cthulhu, and Vampire: The Masquerade. Additional services include 'Learn to Play' beginner sessions, corporate Team Building Events, Kids Games (in development), and Gift Cards. The platform hosts periodic campaign events like annual Pride Month Charity Events and the Dungeon Master Class workshop week. Games can be played through various virtual tabletops (Roll20, Foundry VTT, D&D Beyond, Owlbear Rodeo) and communication tools (Discord, Zoom), with payments processed through Stripe. The company operates on a marketplace model, taking a 15% commission from GM bookings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• LGBT National Help CenterminorOthers · 4 June 2026June 2026 Pride Month charity event where 100% of funds raised go to the organization. StartPlaying waives their 15% platform fee and matches GM contributions up to $1,000. The partnership supports peer support services for the LGBTQ+ community.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Alchemy RPG: Indie-leaning VTT listed as a supported integration on StartPlaying. Competes for GM session-hosting mind share in the indie and smaller-system segments.
• Foundry VTT: Self-hosted VTT popular with professional GMs and listed as a supported integration on StartPlaying. Competes for GM session-hosting mind share at the high end of the market.
• Fantasy Grounds: Long-established VTT with deep official content licensing. Competes with StartPlaying's supported session-hosting stack, particularly for licensed-system-heavy GMs.
• Owlbear Rodeo: Lightweight VTT focused on maps and tokens; listed as a supported integration on StartPlaying. Increasingly popular alternative for casual session hosting.

Direct peers

• D&D Beyond: Wizards of the Coast's official D&D platform for character sheets, rules, and digital content. Functions both as a content integration partner for StartPlaying GMs and as a strategic threat given its owned distribution.
• Roll20: Largest virtual tabletop platform, with integrated LFG (Looking for Group) features enabling players to find games and GMs. The closest direct competitor to StartPlaying on the session-discovery side.
• Demiplane: Multi-system TTRPG rules and character management platform with growing community features. Direct competitor in the TTRPG tools and player-engagement layer.

Others

• Syrinscape: Audio/ambient sound design tool used by some StartPlaying GMs to enhance sessions. Adjacent ecosystem participant rather than direct marketplace competitor.
• Tabletop Simulator: Physics-based virtual tabletop primarily used for board games and mini-RPGs. Adjacent platform serving part of the same hobby audience but with different core mechanics.

Broad incumbents

• Discord: Default communication layer for TTRPG groups and a common substitute for hosted community features. Functions as both an integration partner (many StartPlaying GMs use Discord) and a free community-formation alternative.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/startplaying
• Facebookfacebook.com/dmsandgames
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/startplaying

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about StartPlaying