Exchange FTX, Solana Ventures and venture capital firm Lightspeed have announced the creation of a $100 million fund, which will see the three partners co-invest in Crypto Gaming studios and projects.
100 million for Crypto Gaming
On Friday, November 5, Solana Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and the FTX exchange announced the launch of a $100 million fund for the GameFi ecosystem. The funds will be used to finance game studios, technology companies and other projects “at the intersection of blockchain and gaming,” the companies said.
Amy Wu, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, explained:
“Crypto gaming is a great opportunity to bring the next billion users to Web 3.0. We are excited to partner with FTX and Solana Ventures to play a leading role in the growth of this ecosystem.”
The announcement does not specify whether all of the co-investments will focus on the Solana blockchain (SOL), but the makeup of the alliance leaves little doubt about the fund’s focus.
The first co-investment was announced Thursday, with all three companies participating in a $21 million round dedicated to Faraway. The GameFi studio will use the funds to develop games based on Solana.
Faraway’s first game is an online shooter called “Mini Royale: Nations,” which claims 300,000 monthly active users. It will become the first real-time multiplayer game on Solana. Mini Royale is planning to launch skins and avatars in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT) in December.
A trend that will grow
Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are increasingly merging with the gaming industry, creating new user experiences and new forms of monetization. This combination has given rise to GameFi, a broad term that describes the financialization of gaming.
GameFi is also gaining traction as a concept within the metaverse. Several investment funds have allocated capital to this emerging vertical, including Sanctor Capital, which recently raised $20 million, and Huobi Group, which launched a $10 million fund.
Asked about the long-term value proposition of the metaverse concept, Amy Wu said:
“If the metaverse becomes even a fraction as significant as this in our offline lives, it’s incredibly important. That’s why Web 2 companies like Facebook and Web 3 native companies are trying to build it. People spend a lot of time in games like Fornite and Roblox, so I think the metaverse will emerge from a social game.”
