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a16z Launches $600M Investment Fund for the Gaming Ecosystem

source-logo  thecoinrise.com 19 May 2022 11:40, UTC

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has launched the Games Fund One, a capital pool that will be invested in gaming protocols across the industry.

As announced in a blog post, the Gaming Fund will be managed by three of the firm’s General Partners,  Andrew Chen, Jonathan Lai, and James Gwertzman as the firm seeks to become a part of the supposed revolution being championed in the gaming world.

The establishment of the fund was accompanied by a $600 million initial funding, as the renowned venture capital firm seeks to back gaming protocols that are developing innovative gaming studios, infrastructure, and consumer apps to support the growing ecosystem of gamers worldwide.

The new fund is hinged on a deep assurance that gaming will define how we socialize in the near future, and a16z wants to be a part of this next frontier of social connection.

“GAMES FUND ONE is founded on the belief that games will play a pivotal role in defining how we socialize, play, and work over the next century. Over the past decade, games have undergone a radical transformation, from simply being packaged entertainment, to becoming online services that more closely resemble social networks and scale like consumer technology companies,” the trio of Chen, Lai, and Gwertzman wrote in the blog post.

a16z Complementing Earlier Growth Backing in Gaming Ecosystem 

For the past decade, Andreessen Horowitz has been taking the charge to support innovative gaming brands like Riot Games, CCP, and Epic Games. The company also has a stake in Zynga, Oculus, and a host of other startups that are contributing to the game economy today.

In the blockchain world, a16z also has a very deep footprint as it lead the $150 million funding for Axie Infinity back in October last year. The company believes its efforts in the gaming ecosystem would be better coordinated with the aid of the Games Fund One offshoot.

The investment giant tapped David Baszucki, founder of Roblox; Jason Citron, founder of Discord; Marc Merrill, cofounder of Riot Games; Mike Morhaime, cofounder of Blizzard; Aleks Larsen and Jeffrey Zirlin, cofounders of Sky Mavis; Kevin Lin, cofounder of Twitch, Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga; and Riccardo Zacconi, founder of King as the early partners of the new venture.

thecoinrise.com