What Carde.io does

Carde.io (operating as DSCND LLC) is an Austin, Texas-based software company founded in 2021 that provides organized play management infrastructure for tabletop and trading card game (TCG) communities. The company serves three distinct customer segments: enterprise game publishers (Ravensburger/Disney for Disney Lorcana, UVS Games for Riftbound and UniVersus, Renegade Game Studios, and Sorcery), local game stores and tournament organizers using the Admin Dashboard to run events, and individual players accessing dedicated Play Network portals. The platform is currently in open beta and operates across six gaming ecosystems.

The core product suite comprises Carde.io Play™ (now branded under Carde Cloud), an organized play platform that combines a web-based Admin Dashboard with player-facing Play Networks for each supported game. Functional capabilities include Swiss and dynamic round tournament management, Top Cut phases, match reporting, automated standings, deck submission and import, event registration, Stripe-integrated payment processing, and engagement analytics. The architecture includes a native mobile application (iOS/Android) with geolocation-based event discovery, integrations with Facebook, Twitter, and Riot Games for identity/account linking, and backend infrastructure that was rewritten in SQL in December 2024 for performance. Carde Bot provides AI-assisted 24/7 customer support with human escalation. The company maintains GDPR and CCPA compliance and supports Standard Contractual Clauses for international data transfers.

Carde.io monetizes through subscription fees for platform access and transaction fees on event payments processed via Stripe, though specific pricing tiers are not publicly disclosed and require sales inquiry. The go-to-market strategy is product-led, leveraging publisher partnerships to drive adoption among retail stores and tournament organizers. The company has expanded into eight Southeast Asian markets (Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam) for CookieRun: Braverse events and maintains a multi-channel marketing approach including organic social, email, and direct support. With only $800K in disclosed seed funding from Right Side Capital Management (April 2023) and 11-50 employees, Carde.io is an early-stage company building specialized vertical SaaS infrastructure for the organized-play segment of the tabletop gaming industry.

Name

Carde.io

Legal name

DSCND LLC

Website

https://carde.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Carde.io (DSCND LLC) provides an organized play management platform for tabletop and trading card game communities, serving game publishers, retail stores, and tournament organizers across six gaming ecosystems including Disney Lorcana and Riftbound.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tournament Management Software

NAICS

Amusement Arcades (71312)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Card Issuing & Program Management Platforms (BPAMAFAH)

Keywords

• Tournament management software
• Organized play platform
• Trading card game software
• Tabletop gaming events
• Esports event management

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Platform Subscription/Usage Fees: Carde.io charges fees for access to its organized play platform. The Terms of Service reference purchasing or paying fees to access services, and mentions subscription cancellation options, indicating recurring revenue from platform access.
2. Event Payment Processing: The platform processes digital payments for event registrations through Stripe integration. Tournament organizers can collect online payments from players for event entry fees, with Carde.io taking a transaction cut.
3. Digital Product Sales: Users may be required to purchase or pay fees to access certain services on the platform, including digital products and premium features. All payments are processed in USD.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Carde.io provides a SaaS organized-play management platform (Carde.io Play™) that enables game publishers, retail game stores, and tournament organizers to run trading card game and tabletop gaming tournaments end-to-end, including event creation, player registration, deck submission, Swiss-round and Top Cut match reporting, standings, and Stripe-based payment collection. The platform is delivered through a central Admin Dashboard, dedicated white-label Play Networks for six gaming ecosystems (Disney Lorcana, Riftbound, Wonders of the First, CookieRun: Braverse, Neuroscape, UniVersus), and iOS/Android mobile applications, with engagement and sentiment analytics for publishers and stores.

Product overview

Carde.io is a gaming community platform provider offering a multi-component product portfolio centered on organized play management for tabletop and digital card games. The core offering consists of Carde.io Play™ and Carde Cloud (encompassing the Organized Play platform and Unified Admin Panel), which together provide real-time feedback, event management, and player engagement tools. Tournament organizers access the platform via the Admin Dashboard (admin.carde.io), while players interact through dedicated partner play networks including Disney Lorcana Play Network, Riftbound Gaming Network, Wonders of the First Play Network, CookieRun: Braverse TCG Play Network, Neuroscape Play Network, and UniVersus Gaming Network. The platform also includes a mobile application (iOS/Android) and Carde Bot for 24/7 AI-powered customer support. Currently supporting six game titles with regular weekly platform updates.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Disney Lorcana Play Network: Play network for Disney Lorcana trading card game events
• Riftbound Gaming Network
• Wonders of the First Play Network
• CookieRun: Braverse TCG Play Network
• Neuroscape Play Network
• UniVersus Gaming Network
• Carde.io Play
• Admin Dashboard
• Carde Cloud

Products and services

• Carde.io Play™ Multi-game organized play platform that connects game publishers, retail game stores, and players, providing real-time feedback, event management, player engagement tracking, and incentive distribution for tabletop and digital card games. Used by publishers and tournament organizers to manage the full tournament lifecycle across multiple game ecosystems.
• Admin Dashboard Web-based tournament management interface for store owners and tournament organizers. Enables creation of events, management of player registrations, configuration of Swiss rounds and Top Cut phases, match reporting, standings, reports, and Stripe-based digital payment collection for event entry fees.
• Carde.io Mobile Application Native iOS and Android mobile application that grants access to Carde.io organized play features, supports location-based event and store discovery via geolocation, sends push notifications, and allows players to manage their accounts and tournament participation from mobile devices.
• Carde Cloud Umbrella platform that encompasses Carde.io's Organized Play platform and the Unified Admin Panel, providing the underlying infrastructure for Carde.io Play, the Admin Dashboard, and publisher-branded Play Networks across multiple gaming ecosystems.
• Disney Lorcana Play Network Player-facing portal for Disney Lorcana TCG organized play. Lets players search for events, register for tournaments, submit decklists, track tournament history, and participate in Ravensburger's organized play program; operated by Carde.io on behalf of Ravensburger.
• Riftbound Gaming Network Player-facing portal for Riftbound TCG organized play. Enables account management, event search, tournament registration, deck creation and submission, and tournament history tracking, with mandatory Riot Games account linking to participate in events.
• Wonders of the First Play Network Play network portal for Wonders of the First TCG organized play, providing event discovery, player registration, and tournament participation features.
• CookieRun: Braverse TCG Play Network Play network portal for CookieRun: Braverse TCG organized play, supporting regional availability across multiple Southeast Asian markets plus Korea and Taiwan on the new dashboard, with other regions served via the legacy 1.0 Dashboard.
• Neuroscape Play Network Play network portal for Neuroscape TCG organized play, providing event discovery and player participation features.
• UniVersus Gaming Network Play network portal for UniVersus organized play, enabling event discovery and tournament participation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Platform improves customer engagement and ensures seamless, rewarding experiences for gaming communities

Named customers6 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

Integration4 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• UVS GamescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUVS Games is a key publishing partner whose Riftbound gaming ecosystem runs on Carde.io's organized play platform. The Riftbound Gaming Network (locator.riftbound.uvsgames.com) is a Carde.io-powered Play Network where players register for events and track tournament history.
• Renegade Game StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRenegade Game Studios is listed as a trusted partner on Carde.io's website, indicating a partnership for organized play services. Renegade publishes various tabletop games and likely utilizes Carde.io for tournament management.
• SorcerycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSorcery is listed as a trusted partner on Carde.io's website. As a tabletop game publisher, Sorcery likely uses Carde.io's organized play platform to manage tournaments and engage the gaming community.
• Ravensburger AGcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCarde.io shares player data with Ravensburger AG for the Ravensburger Play Hub and Disney Lorcana tournaments. Carde.io powers the Disney Lorcana Play Network (tcg.ravensburgerplay.com) for organized play.
• The Walt Disney CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCarde.io shares player data with Disney for Disney Lorcana tournament participation. The Disney Lorcana trading card game IP is owned by The Walt Disney Company, and Carde.io operates the organized play infrastructure for Lorcana events.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe is integrated as the payment processor for Carde.io's platform, enabling tournament organizers to collect digital payments from players for event registrations through the Admin Dashboard.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Battlefy: Esports tournament management platform offering event creation, registration, bracket management, and team coordination. Highly comparable to Carde.io in serving the operational needs of competitive gaming organizers, though Battlefy's strongest footprint is in PC/console esports rather than trading card games.
• Matcherino: Tournament and event management platform with built-in prize pool and monetization features, including payment processing for entry fees. Closely comparable to Carde.io on the payment-processing-for-events dimension via Stripe integration, though focused more on esports crowdfunding than TCG organized play.
• Challonge: Long-standing tournament bracket management platform used by competitive gaming communities worldwide. Comparable to Carde.io in organizing brackets, registrations, and match reporting across multiple game titles, though more general-purpose and bracket-focused versus Carde.io's TCG-specific organized play ecosystem with publisher-branded Play Networks.
• Toornament: Tournament management platform providing bracket creation, player registration, match reporting, and standings across multiple game titles. Comparable multi-game tournament infrastructure, though positioned as a more general-purpose competitive gaming platform rather than TCG-focused.
• Start.gg: Tournament platform (successor to Smash.gg) primarily serving the Super Smash Bros. and fighting game community with event creation, registration, and venue management. Direct competitor in the organized play infrastructure space, with comparable self-serve event management workflows and a multi-game portfolio approach similar to Carde.io's.

Emerging players

• Tabletopia: Digital tabletop gaming platform that simulates board and card games online for remote play. Adjacent to Carde.io in serving the tabletop gaming community but focused on virtual play experience rather than organized tournament infrastructure, with partial overlap in the broader tabletop engagement ecosystem.

Others

• Eventbrite: General-purpose event management and ticketing platform. Overlaps with Carde.io on event registration, ticketing, and payment processing for in-person gatherings, but operates as a horizontal event tool rather than a TCG-organized play specialist — adjacent infrastructure that game stores may use as an alternative.
• TCGplayer: Leading trading card game marketplace with some tournament and event management features, serving the same TCG community and stores as Carde.io. Primarily a marketplace rather than an organized play platform, but represents the broader TCG tooling ecosystem where Carde.io's customers operate.

Broad incumbents

• ESL Gaming (ESL Play): One of the world's largest esports tournament organizers operating ESL Play as a broad competitive gaming platform. Larger scope and brand than Carde.io with overlapping capabilities in organized competitive gaming infrastructure, though primarily focused on PC/console esports rather than tabletop/TCG ecosystems.
• Wizards of the Coast: Publisher of Magic: The Gathering and operator of a proprietary DCI tournament system for its own organized play. Not a software peer in the traditional sense, but represents the vertical integration threat — the publisher-self-build alternative — that could displace Carde.io if other publishers follow suit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/carde_io
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Cardeio
• Facebookfacebook.com/61550953133244
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/carde-io
• Instagraminstagram.com/carde.io

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 Carde.io