March Capital Launches a $60 Million Fund to Help Game Startups

March Capital launched March Gaming Fund, a $60 million fund to invest in seed and series A entrepreneurs developing games or related technology and infrastructure. As an investor of Knock Knock and Nifty Games, March Capital expects to find 12 – 15 game startups to invest and provide guidance.  

Gregory Milken, a Managing Partner at March Capital, said in a company statement that: “While March Capital has long invested in gaming, we realized that we had a subset of investors and constituents who were very interested in gaming. We decided to dedicate a fund just for gaming investments and use our unique expertise and evaluation capabilities to fully capitalize on this opportunity. As a life-long gamer, I cannot wait to continue to identify, invest in, and advise those like-minded entrepreneurs who are at the forefront of game platform creation and content development.”

Game industry has seen a tremendous boost as COVID19 lockdowns force people to stay at home. The Santa Monica, California based company Activision Blizzard hit $1.9 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2020, up 38% as compared to the second quarter of 2019. Take-Two Interactive acquired mobile game developer Playdots for $192 million comprising $90 million in cash and $102 million in stock. After acquiring Peak Games for $1.8 billion in June 2020, Zynga acquired hyper casual game studio Rollic for $168 million. Pokémon Home hit $5.5 million in revenue in its first 6 months. Last but not least, a couple of days ago, Tencent took a minority stake in Voodoo, French gaming company valued at $1.4 billion.

Milken says “Once viewed as solely for geeks, gaming is now incredibly widespread, and it is an enthusiastic part of our culture. Gaming has become an active, multi-directional activity, and esports, streaming, audience participation, chats/communication, and game viewership will lead to immediate further rewards in gaming investing in the next five years. Game engines are being used to create the latest content, including the most successful TV shows and movies. As such, I’m thrilled to announce our new fund that is 100% focused on the gaming industry.” 

Having a successful background in the gaming industry, Gregory Milken invested in Small Giant Games acquired by Zynga for $650 million.