Bitkraft Ventures successfully raised $275 million to support various gaming industry studios and platforms and marked the increase of the total managed fund to $1 billion.
The games investor which is based out of Denver, Colorado, has European founders and was able to raise its third fund. This would be used to make seed and Series A investments in gaming studios and platforms to support game production.
Bitkraft Ventures Raises $275 Million
(Photo : Bitkraft Ventures / Screenshot taken from official website)
The development also comes during a time when game investments have declined by 72% year on year. Bitkraft Ventures was founded by games industry veteran Jens Hilgers and has more than 130 companies in its portfolio. It also has more than $1 billion in assets under management following the recently acquired $275 million.
The venture capital is also an investor in the Frost Giant studio, which Hilgers seemed particularly excited about. He said that the studio is looking to build a successor in the real-time strategy space. He noted that the team had previously been involved in building Starcraft and is now launching a title known as Stormgate, according to TechCrunch.
Other types of investments that Bitkraft Ventures made include Anzu, which is an in-game ad platform, Carry1st, a mobile gaming platform that is focused on Africa, InWorld, a social platform, Karate Combat, a martial arts league, and many more.
Hilgers added that the firm's limited partnership base is a mixture of family offices and institutional funds. He also confirmed a major global sportswear player as an LP. He said that the strategy that they pursued with the second fund was roughly 30 to 35 companies, an average ticket size of about $4 million, 50% of the initial capital, and 50% follow-on.
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Some of the recipients of Bitkraft Ventures's previous investments include notable companies such as Jungle and CCP. The company's second round of funding focused primarily on Web3 and blockchain games.
The third round of investments will focus on early-stage gaming projects and it was reported that at least 15% of the funds have already been earmarked for projects in the Asian sector. Hilgers also noted that they are interested in the next generation of studios, developers, and games, said CoinTelegraph.
Supporting Gaming Industry Studios and Platforms
The development comes as the gaming industry experienced a notable global decline in revenues last year. However, Web3 projects have seen a substantial recovery since the fourth quarter of 2023.
Hilgers noted that newly formed game studios have seen substantial break-out successes over the last few years. He added that they have observed a surge of interest in game content beyond incumbents from media and tech giants.
Bitkraft Ventures was founded in 2016 and is now operating six venture funds as it has strategically invested in various stages in a global roster of companies. It also expanded its team in Asai in April last year with two new appointments.
Former Garena CEO Jin Oh was appointed as a partner and ex-Temasek director Jonathan Huang as principal. The company said that appointments will help it identify and invest in promising gaming and interactive entertainment startups across the region, according to DealStreetAsia.
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