London Venture Partners Announces New Seed Fund For European Games Sector

Chris Jones
August 13, 2014

London Venture Partners (“LVP”) has just come out with a new seed fund intended for investment in the red hot European games sector. Although LVP has been making investments in this area for several years, it is now leveraging its prior experience to bring in outside backers to create an even larger pool of assets for seed funding. The size of the new fund has yet to be disclosed, but according to LVP, the fund will likely make between 20 - 25 investments in the fifty thousand to half-million dollar range over the next several years.

Given all of the recent growth in the European games sector, LVP could profit handsomely from just a handful of wise early-stage investments with its new fund. As is often the case, seed funding can reap the highest rewards for early investors, but also carries the highest degree of risk. The difficulty lies in being able to spot the hidden gems among the legions of new offerings. The right investment can yield returns of more than 1,000%, though most new game designers do not have products capable of such rapid growth. The ability to recognize new talent in this area, therefore, is crucial to potential new seed investors. Having a demonstrated track record like LVP in this space is rare, and is exactly what is needed to build up new funds for investment.

Within the European games market, mobile remains the fastest growing category by far, and likely will continue to dominate the sector for at least the next several years. The market has tended to lag behind its US equivalent, but that is likely due more to a lack of comparable funding than talent. There is an enormous amount of creative talent coming out of Europe in the games sector, as recent offerings have proven (such as Supercell, NaturalMotion, and Playfish, among others). Getting even more capital into the right hands in this market could cause it to explode.

Interestingly, some of the same factors that may have kept capital from initially flowing into the European games sector may now play a role now in fueling its growth. European game developers traditionally have been located much further from the bright centers of startup-financing, as compared with their U.S. counterparts. Yet starting a new business in these European locations does not require anywhere near as much capital as trying to do so in places like Silicon Valley. In other words, seed funding can go a lot further there, which can make all the difference for early stage ventures.

Although LVP has not disclosed the types of games it will seek to make investments in with its new fund, it has indicated it is looking for games that will have a lasting impact. Offerings that can potentially demonstrate the trifecta of mass market appeal, good monetization, and long lifetime success, will be highly sought after. Look for more seed and early-stage funds to enter this sector in the near future. Particularly with respect to apps, the ability to scale quickly and successfully has improved exponentially. The need for new capital to encourage and sustain such growth is essential to the continued success of the European games sector. LVP is well positioned to lead the pack in this new wave of investment.

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