Bitkraft Ventures, one of the biggest investors in game and esports startups, has launched a $75 million token fund that will be used to invest in blockchain gaming and digital entertainment. Using a “stage-agnostic” strategy, the fund invests in startups and businesses at any stage of development. Apart from equity investment, the token fund will also invest in cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens (NFT).
It will invest in both tokens (cryptocurrency or nonfungible tokens, or NFTs) and equity across the fast-growing space. Bitkraft said it has ensured a robust regulatory setup by becoming a Registered Investment Advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bitkraft received an investment advisor registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2021 in order to provide regulated investment opportunities. Piers Kicks is a founding partner of the investment arm of crypto research firm Delphi Digital and is leading the new token fund. Kicks joined Bitkraft earlier this year to lead the company’s crypto and NFT investment efforts.
In addition to Yield Guild Games (YGG), Immutable, Alethea AI, and Horizon Games, Bitkraft reported that the fund had closed six investments. It’s a direct investment for YGG and Alethea, Kicks said. “We were only able to announce the funding after final closing but have been actively deploying from it,” he added.
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While the fund has mainly invested in startups building on the Ethereum blockchain, Kicks stated, “We adopt a chain-agnostic approach and assess each project on a case-by-case basis. We are beginning to see some exciting activity on Solana and will be closely monitoring early gaming projects in that ecosystem.”
Jens Hilgers, the fund’s founding general partner, said Bitkraft Ventures hopes to invest in about 25 more companies by the end of 2022. As of Oct. 1, 2021, the firm had $540 million in assets under management, and its portfolio included more than 60 companies in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Several new use cases for decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-financial tokens (NFTs) have emerged in the gaming industry. Among the most popular Ethereum-based games this year has been Axie Infinity. On Monday, its native token, AXS, reached a new all-time high above $155 for the first time. Blockchain gaming platform DeFi Land raised $4.1 million in September to launch a new DeFi game on Solana.
