playventuresa global venture capital firm specializing in early-stage games, has raised $140 million for its third games fund.
The fund is Singapore-based Play Ventures’ largest fund to date, with total assets under management of $450 million. This new fund, being established at this time, is important for the gaming industry. The game industry has been in a tough spot for two and a half years, with 33,000 people laid off.
The fund’s closure was driven by strong support from a core group of returning investors, including university endowments, strategic partners in the gaming space, prominent global family offices, and new investors who support the company’s thesis. It was done.
Fund III invests in early-stage companies across the gaming ecosystem with a focus on mobile free-to-play, mobile consumer, gaming infrastructure and platforms, AI-enhanced gaming tools, and the following areas: It builds on Play Ventures’ successful strategy of Generational distribution channels.
Since the fund’s first close in June 2023, the fund has made eight investments, including investments in experienced founders with existing exit experience, demonstrating the strength of Play Ventures’ approach and deal sourcing. It’s highlighted.
“Software may have swallowed the world, but mobile has swallowed our time whole. People now live their lives on their smartphones, spending hours a day on social media, apps, etc. , and the most notable games,” Play Ventures founding partner Henric Suuronen said in a statement. “Mobile gaming is one of the most dynamic sectors of our time, with huge untapped potential. Fund III will create a billion-dollar game and interactive experience powered by the transformative power of AI. We are investing in a new wave of
Fund III will also focus on “playable apps,” consumer applications that apply the best parts of the free-to-play game playbook to create engaging and interactive user experiences across multiple consumer verticals. I’ll put it.
“Integrating game mechanics into everyday apps is just the first step. Learn from the entire f2p game playbook, which has been perfected over decades, including meta design, live operations, economy design, monetization, and more. , and unlock a ton of user engagement and value,” said Play Ventures Partner Phylicia Ko. . “Our playable app investments in Arya, Ahead, Benjamin, and Bible Chat demonstrate how this approach can drive significant growth and reimagine the user experience.”
Most recently, Fund III invested in Beyond, an AI startup founded by Huuge Games founder Anton Gauffin, to develop its first consumer product, Decor Society.
We asked Harri Manninen, co-founder of Play Ventures, about the importance of raising this funding at a time when there are so many layoffs in the games industry.
“The gaming industry has always been very fast-moving and dynamic,” says Manninen. “While recent growth slowdowns and economic pressures have certainly impacted gaming companies, the gaming ecosystem continues to evolve, with user-generated content (UGC) platforms, AI-powered tools and development, and emerging Global markets, consumer apps are also available. These can be seen as entirely new types of growth opportunities.”
Manninen continued, “I believe that great founders see these times of uncertainty as an opportunity to build the next generation of great gaming companies. Many of today’s largest gaming companies… Founded during a time of market downturn and downturn, Fund III is committed to supporting new gaming startups and brave founders who create new businesses regardless of market sentiment. It’s a great time to invest in technology and help move the industry forward.”
And he said, “My hope is that the new gaming companies of tomorrow will be very successful and will be able to employ many of the talented people who have unfortunately recently lost their jobs in the gaming industry.New and growing companies There is always a demand to hire new and talented people.”
Play Ventures will deploy Fund III to 20 to 25 companies around the world, with a focus on early-stage investments from pre-seed to Series A, with a focus on supporting the best-performing portfolio companies as they grow. We expect to secure funding.
With Fund III, Play Ventures is excited to partner with founders who are redefining gaming environments and building the next generation of interactive experiences.
Play Ventures was founded in 2018 and has offices in Singapore and Helsinki. For the first fund, Play Ventures raised $30 million in 2018, and for the second fund, $135 million in 2021.
The team includes Sloonen, Harri Manninen, general partner Kenrick Draikoningen, Phylicia Ko and Anton Bachmann.
