GFR Fund, a venture capital investor affiliated with Japan-based digital media company Gree, has raised $20m to back digital entertainment and media startups.
The vehicle, GFR Fund II, has collected limited partner commitments from several unnamed strategic investors in Asia and will focus on helping US-based startups ‘disrupting the digital entertainment sector’ expand into Asia.
The fund will invest in virtual reality, augmented reality, eSports, livestreaming, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology developers. It has already participated in two deals, including a round for US-based eSports monetisation services provider FanAI.
The fund’s second investment was in ProGuides, an online platform that provides gamers to with information on how to take part in eSports more effectively.
Teppei Tsutsui, managing partner of GFR Fund, said: “We are looking beyond traditional game developers to invest in disruptive entertainment technologies.
“There is a new wave of founders and creators who are creatively combining existing technologies to offer new, scalable experiences, and that is very exciting.”
The first GVR fund raised $18.3m in February 2018 and concentrated solely on AR and VR startups, rebranding to GFR Fund shortly afterwards to reflect its broader investment remit.