Solana Ventures, FTX, and Lightspeed Venture Partners have teamed up to launch a $100 million gaming fund, GameFi, which will facilitate investments in video game developers, tech companies, and other projects at “the intersection of blockchain and gaming.” The collaboration between these three heavyweight firms is a result of them working together in gaming over the past few months. The funding initiative is looking to back great teams and projects, both crypto-native and gaming-native, in a bid to onboard the next billion onto Web3. Lightspeed has invested in gaming companies including Epic Games, Hidden Leaf, 1017 Games, and TripleDot Studios. In June, FTX acquired naming rights to esports organization TSM Esports in a 10-year, $210 million deal that included cryptocurrency for all TSM players and employees. And earlier this month, Solana took part in a $725 million Series B round in crypto gaming startup Forte that included Andreessen Horowitz and Warner Music Group.
“I think you’re going to see a big difference between crypto companies trying to make a game and gaming companies trying to introduce crypto,” said Sam Bankman Fried, CEO of FTX and Alameda Research. “Frankly, it’s hard to make an engaging video game.”
In October, FTX closed a $420.7 million funding round, valuing the crypto exchange at $25 billion, while Lightspeed has more than 400 active investments with $10.5 billion in committed capital.
Solana has raised roughly $335.8 million in total funding and has made eight investments, including its participation in last week’s $21 million seed round in BetDex, a blockchain-based sports betting platform.
(All information was provided by Front Office Sports and Solana News)
0 comments on “Solana Ventures, FTX, And Lightspeed Launch $100M Gaming Fund”