Play Ventures announces Fund I Performance: 1.5x returned in less than 4 years
Play Ventures is proud to announce industry-leading returns out of our debut Fund I. In less than 4 years, we returned 1.5x to investors in distributed capital (DPI). With 20 companies remaining in the portfolio and 6 years to go in the fund lifetime, that figure is set to further increase significantly.
Since the inception of Play Ventures in December 2018 we’ve invested in over 100 unique gaming studios, content, tooling and service companies. Our debut Fund I (launched early 2019) has already seen a few notable exits:
- Reworks — Mobile gaming studio acquired by Playtika for US$600m.
- Dataseat — B2B mobile marketing technology company acquired by Verve Group.
- Savage Game Studios — A shooter game development studio acquired by PlayStation Studios.
With Fund II, we have already seen the exits of both Alter and Loupedeck to leading technology companies.
With 20 companies remaining in the Fund I portfolio, including such success stories such as Gamefam, Mod.io, MPL and others, we strive to continue delivering even better returns to our investors and working together with our founders to help them build global success stories.
We’re also glad to share that Play Ventures Fund II, Opportunity Fund and Play Future Fund have had strong starts with two exits and also has several rapidly growing companies including Odeeo, Original Games, Fliff, Freedom Games, Appcharge, INCRMNTAL, Nefta, XDEFI and many others.
Play’s Core Principles
Gaming today is going through a period of flux and paradigm shifts thanks to massive changes in IDFA, privacy regulations, the emergence of blockchain, and more. While our investment focus areas will also shift with and in anticipation of macro changes and trends, our core principles remain unchanged and steadfast:
#1 Founders First, period.
We’ve been there ourselves as successful gaming founders. We know it takes a special kind of founder to build a successful company.
“Watching 100 hours of movies does not put you in a position to be able to advise Christopher Nolan. Likewise playing 100 games does not enable you to advise a skilled game creator in their project”
— Henric Suuronen, Founding partner of Play Ventures
To be able to advise on the craft of game making you must have made games yourself. The same goes for gaming company creation. The best way to be able to advise gaming startups is to create a gaming startup. Our partners have done exactly that and we back industry-defining, rule-bending entrepreneurs who battle out on the frontlines.
We plan to double-down on being founder-first and are actively looking to strengthen our team with a number of operational team key hires: Head of Events, Head of Talent, and Head of M&A.
#2 Authenticity: A Nordic Heritage
Play Ventures traces its heritage and roots back to the Nordics, a region renowned for its very pragmatic and down-to-earth, grounded approach. This ethos shapes our way of working and our interactions with all stakeholders: we’re transparent with our investors, team, and founders, and are always one phone call away. We nurture authenticity within Play and also seek this vital characteristic in the founders we back.
#3 Gaming: A global phenomenon that is eating the world
Gaming is on track to become a $300 billion market, larger than all other forms of entertainment combined. It brings joy to young and old, rich and poor, and delights everyone worldwide.
We will continue to invest across the entire value chain, including studios building for mobile, PC, and console, but also in tooling and infrastructure companies that enable groundbreaking innovations.
Our investments are therefore also global and will remain global, spanning across the USA, Europe, and Asia. We have already built an impressive portfolio in the gaming hubs of Israel and Turkey, and will continue to double down on similar emerging key ecosystems. By fostering partnerships in these emerging regions and beyond, we remain committed to shaping the future of gaming.
Looking to the future
We are extremely grateful to our investors who have supported and placed their faith in us over the years, and the founders who’ve trusted us with the opportunity to invest, support, and back their dreams.
The fun work continues — we remain excited to invest in and support the next wave of great gaming startups. No matter where you are in the world, if you’re a passionate and ambitious game entrepreneur, we want to talk to you.
— Play Ventures Team
This advertisement or publication has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Past performance of the manager is not necessarily indicative of its future performance.
