Griffin raises $750m for a gaming- and Web 3.0-focused fund

Venture firm Griffin Gaming Partners raised $750m for a fund focused on the gaming industry and Web 3.0.

Co-founder Nick Tuosto told CoinDesk that Fund II has already invested in 16 decentralised-internet startups. They accounted for about half of the capital.

“[Web 3.0] is one of our central theses from a macroeconomic perspective of gaming. We believe that the ability to own digital assets could become one of the most important technological breakthroughs in the history of gaming,” he said.

According to Tuosto, the fund was supported by institutional investors, university endowments, family offices, pension funds, and strategic partners from the gaming industry.

Griffin was founded in 2019 by Nick Tuosto, Phil Sanders and Peter Levin. The firm invests in early-stage startups in the areas of game content, social platforms and Web 3.0. Among its portfolio companies are the gaming blockchain platform Forte and the crypto-community messenger Discord.

“The boundaries between games, media, sports, and social interaction are blurring. By tracking more than 1,300 qualified investment opportunities per year, we gain insight into the industry and what is needed for success in the next stage of interactive entertainment,” Sanders said.

As a reminder, investments in infrastructure and blockchain games in the GameFi segment reached $1 billion in January.