Vgames raises $142 million for its third gaming fund

Vgames has raised $142 million for its third fund to continue investing in talented gaming teams around the world.

Led by Eitan Riesel and Daniel Mironov, the fund (named after Vgames) will invest in game studios across different stages, supporting talented founders and supporting them as they grow.

“The third box is very exciting, as this was only an idea five years ago,” managing director Riesel said in an interview with GamesBeat.

It was the previous money 60 million dollars In 2020 and $141 million In 2021.

“We are proud to be among the world’s leading gaming investors. We stand out for backing talented founders from early days to later stages. Vgames has led early-stage investments in companies while also leading mega rounds in some of its portfolio,” said Raizel.

Since launching Vgames in March 2020, the fund has invested in 38 companies globally, making it one of the most active gaming funds in the world. It has also invested in “gamification” deals.

“We are at the top of the charts in performance,” Riesel said.

Notable investments include InnPlay Labs (acquired by Playtika for up to $300 million), SuperPlay (acquired by Playtika for up to $1.95 billion), 1047 Games, Candivore (top ten match-3 games globally), and GOAT (former founders of Plarium), Elyzio, 44 ​​Pixels, AMP and more. The exit numbers were in the billions of dollars.

“From day one, we aimed to become a founder-centric fund. I believe the more support our founders have, the better we will become,” Raizel said. “I am very confident in the model we have built and proud to support top world-class entrepreneurs from Israel and the Levant.” The Middle East, Europe, the United States, and soon additional parts of the world. “Our founders are our success,” Riesel said.

Vgames prides itself on having a dedicated investment team that includes Mironov; Rizzle. David Digme, Chief Operating Officer; and Ricky Papa Benigni, Investor Relations and Marketing Officer.

“We’re still very consumer-focused,” Riesel said. “The majority of the content is created at game studios. It’s very similar in the strategy of funding one and funding two. We’re happy with it so why change?

All team members have active roles in the investments and portfolio. This intimate working team enables the fund to implement decisions quickly while maintaining a relationship of trust between investor and entrepreneur. The fund is also stage agnostic, investing in the very early days of a company all the way to A and growth rounds.

Cross-platform gaming has arrived in a big way, and it’s a good idea to release games on multiple platforms, including PC, consoles and mobile phones, Raizel said.

Asked about investments in blockchain gaming, the Metaverse or artificial intelligence, Reisel said the company does not believe in these trends. He thinks of cryptocurrencies as a place to trade, not a place to play games.

“I think it’s been very aggressive in terms of how it gets to the market. We’re still going to see those crossovers, but I think it’s going to take some time. As a fund, we’ve taken very few positions,” Riesel said. “You won’t see any big crypto names on our list.” . We are very disciplined in creating content. I think it’s not the technology. It’s the type of content you play. We always want to invest in games that we believe can attract a large market.

Raizel said he doesn’t think AI will replace game makers any time soon. He sees great value in casual and mid-core gaming, art, narrative design, and level design when it comes to human abilities. But he believes that artificial intelligence will help reduce production costs.

“Maybe if you needed to put 10 trees on a map, you could do it with artificial intelligence,” he said.

The fund recently led an undisclosed $50 million round in one of its portfolio companies. Among the support the fund provides is non-dilutive financing for growth companies as an alternative to equity – a win-win for both founders and investors.

“We invest in teams and content and believe in a data-driven approach,” Mironov, partner and gaming expert at Vgames, said in a statement. “Depending on the stage of the company, we analyze the type, metrics if possible and growth opportunities, and based on that we drive our investment decisions. We look for the strongest teams out there, teams that are not afraid to think big and exploit red ocean opportunities. We are often asked if we invest in Mobile/PC/Consoles.”

“Our answer has been consistent: we have a content-first approach,” Mironov added. “So, as long as players enjoy playing, as long as there is a strong business model supporting it, as long as there is great potential, we would like to explore it.”

Vgames is determined to maintain the same investment cadence and deploy capital quickly to grow its portfolio and support its existing portfolio as well.

Among the investments, Reisel is bullish on 1047 Games and the upcoming May launch of Splitgate 2. Reisel said he sees companies like 1047 Games benefiting from remote work.

Vgames expects to appoint its first investor outside of Israel, although the fund has been a global investor with companies across Europe, India, Turkey and the Middle East.

“We’re here to deploy if we see opportunities that we can move forward with,” Raizel said.

He said there were times when the company made an investment every month. He expressed his hope that the situation in Israel would improve.

“I live in Israel,” he said. “I have to be optimistic.”

He said he is optimistic that people will continue to play games.

“The number of people globally is growing. Connectivity is growing. I think the fact that games today can be played on low-end devices in Tier 3 countries – that’s very important,” he said. “We’re focusing on that a lot with our portfolio companies.” Investment.” “Games can be accessed on any device. We are seeing a lot of innovation in companies, and the intellectual property rights holders have been running the show for many years.