Japan-based mobile games maker Gumi has launched a $30m corporate venture capital fund with limited partners including entertainment company Voyage Group and game developer YJM Games.
The fund, Gumi Cryptos, will invest in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology companies, with its portfolio already including Theta, Wax, Robot Cache, Basis, Pryze and Origin.
Hironao Kunimitsu, founder and CEO of Gumi, which listed in late-2014 after corporate venture backing from peer Gree among others, and Miko Matsumura, founder of virtual currency exchange Evercoin, are leading Gumi Cryptos.
Kunimitsu said: “Our team brings tremendous expertise in emerging technology, and with Gumi Cryptos, we can truly partner with these companies as they achieve amazing results for all stakeholders.”
Matsumura, who has also advised more than a dozen initial coin offerings and startups, said in an interview with GamesBeat: “We like early stage. We invest in equity or tokens. We like financial services.
“We like game technologies, and we believe there is a strong connection between gaming and crypto.”
Japan was the first country to legalize Bitcoin, but has seen local companies, such as Mt. Gox and Coincheck, hacked and lose hundreds of millions of dollars in user crypto holdings.