China-based gaming e-commerce company Kee Ever Bright Technology agreed yesterday to jointly form a strategic investment fund with Joyme Capital, a subsidiary of online gaming community operator Joyme Group.
The fund will initially be $140m in size under the terms of the framework agreement, but the companies intend to eventually increase it to $360m.
The gaming sector will be the focus of the fund, and in particular game development and distribution, eSports, and ancillary services and business models related to the creation and publishing of PC and mobile games.
In addition to capital, portfolio companies will be able to benefit from Joyme’s resources, which include online community Joyme Wiki and partnerships with e-commerce group Alibaba and online video streaming platform Youku Tudou, to help them penetrate the Chinese market.
Yang Chen, Joyme Group’s founder and CEO, said: “With this Fund, we will look for opportunities to acquire ownership stakes in successful game developers. Our model of investment focuses on successful organisations.
“The combined financial and game publishing resources we are able to offer through this investment model give us unique strength in bringing Western games to market in China.”
Joyme Group already has investment partnerships in place with Youku Tudou as well as Fosun Kinzon Capital, the venture capital firm sponsored by conglomerate Fosun, and VC firm Blue Run Ventures.