Above: Clash of Clans from Supercell is one of the games LVP helped fund previously.
London Venture Partners has made billions from backing European game companies. Now, it is starting a new fund with some friends to make even more.
Earlier today, the company announced that it is starting a seed fund with third-party investors that will focus on game companies in Europe. London Venture Partners is teaming up with MapleStory publisher Nexon, World of Tanks developer Wargaming, and Zynga chief executive officer Don Mattrick to help provide early funding for gaming startups in the European region. LVP previously invested in breakout developers like Supercell, NaturalMotion, Playfish, and Applifier. Those game companies helped LVP generate around $4 billion in value over the last five years.
With the new seed fund, LVP will have its general partners David Gardner, David Lau-Kee, and Paul Heydon use their experience to find and invest in European game startups. The investment firm will use its own experience along with that of its new partners to help guide the developers it pours money into. The fund is looking to make initial seed investments between $50,000 and $500,000.
"We believe that the European market represents significant untapped potential where we can apply our domain-specific strategic and operational expertise to help lead young game startups to success,” London Venture Partners’ Gardner said in a statement.
One of the reasons LVP brought in Nexon, Wargaming, and Mattrick is that they represent major gaming operations in Asia, Eurasia, and North America, respectively. Wargaming is one of the biggest developers in Russia. Nexon operates some of the most important games in China, Japan, and Korea. Mattrick’s Zynga has experience with successful releases around the world but especially in the U.S.
"London Venture Partners' outstanding team has a great track record of identifying promising young companies and helping them to scale successfully, and we are excited to work alongside such a strong group of partners," Wargaming chief executive Victor Kislyi said.
"Games are at the forefront of a consumer entertainment revolution as technology evolves and smartphone adoption continues to expand,” said Mattrick. “London Venture Partners has an experienced team focused on investing in Europe’s most innovative gaming and mobile startups that are developing for that growth.”
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Zynga Inc. is the world's largest social game developer with more than 232 million monthly active users playing their games which include CityVille, FarmVille, FrontierVille, Words With Friends, Mafia Wars, Zynga Poker, Cafe World, and... read more »
That's what Nexon is all about. A pioneer in the world of interactive entertainment software, we introduced the world to the first graphic MMORPG, The Kingdom of the Winds, back in 1995. Since then, we've become the industry leader in ... read more »
Don A. Mattrick (born 13 February 1964) is the CEO of social gaming company Zynga,as well as a member of its board of directors. Previously, Mattrick was the President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft.In this role... read more »
