Bitkraft Ventures is a gaming investor based in Denver, Colorado, with European founders. The company is announcing its third fund at $275 million to invest in gaming studios and platforms for game production. This move comes at a time when game investments have dropped by 72% year-on-year, as per a recent report by PitchBook here.
Founded by gaming industry veteran Jens Hilgers, Bitkraft has more than 130 companies in its portfolio and manages over $1 billion in assets.
The venture capital firm is backing Frost Giant studio, which Hilgers finds especially exciting.
“Frost Giant is working on a real-time strategy game following their involvement in creating StarCraft. Their upcoming game, Stormgate, is highly anticipated and has received positive early reviews. This exemplifies the kind of gaming companies we invest in,” said Hilgers.
Bitkraft’s other investments include Anzu, an in-game ad platform; Carry1st, a mobile gaming platform targeting Africa; InWorld, a social platform; Karate Combat, a martial arts league; and Immutable, the developer of the Gods Unchained crypto-based game.
The firm’s limited partner (LP) base consists of family offices and institutional funds, with a major global sportswear player also being an LP, although the name remains undisclosed.
“With our second fund, we aimed for about 30 to 35 companies with an average investment size of around $4 million, splitting the capital equally between initial investments and follow-ons. This approach has yielded successful results. We are ranked in the top percentile in the latest Cambridge Associates rating, and we are pleased with our performance,” he further added.
Analogously, Bitkraft can be likened to Play Ventures in Singapore, which has raised $222.9 million across four funds and invests across various gaming platforms.
