March 7, 2022 — 8:00 A.M. EST
Griffin Gaming Partners Becomes One of the Largest Venture Funds Focused Exclusively on Gaming with Over $1 Billion Under Management
Griffin Closes Oversubscribed $750M Fund II, Providing Strong Support for Global Early and Late Stage Gaming Companies
LOS ANGELES & SAN FRANCISCO – Griffin Gaming Partners (Griffin) announced today that its oversubscribed $750M Fund II makes it one of the largest venture capital funds singularly focused on the global gaming market, with over $1B in assets under management (AUM). The firm was founded by Peter Levin, Phil Sanderson, and Nick Tuosto, with LionTree as a strategic partner to the Fund. Peter, Phil, and Nick are passionate gamers with decades of collective investing, advising and operating experience in the games industry.
With one of the longest gaming industry track records, Griffin invests in content, software infrastructure, and social platforms, as well as gaming-related Web3 companies. Select Griffin investments include Forte, Discord, AppLovin, Overwolf, WinZO and Spyke Games.
“Griffin Gaming Partners aims to unlock value and growth for our portfolio companies as informed advisors and connectors,” said Peter Levin, Managing Director of Griffin Gaming Partners. “With over $1B of AUM, we have extensive relationships, honed perspectives, and the creative instincts to uncover hidden gems, find synergistic partnerships, and structure complex deals that impact the gaming ecosystem.”
Massive Growth Makes Gaming the Dominant Form of Media
The Gaming market is now larger than movies, music, and books combined, and is the fastest growing consumer trend globally, with 248% expected growth over the next decade, according to Newzoo.
The global gaming market is projected to reach a staggering $256 billion of annual consumer spend in 2025. One-third of the world’s population, 3.1B players, play games almost an hour a day. Consumers spent an average of 5B+ hours and $1.7B+ per week on mobile games in the first half of 2021. [Sources in order: Newzoo, DFC Intelligence, App Annie]
“The lines have blurred across gaming, media, sport, and social connectivity,” said Phil Sanderson, Managing Director of Griffin Gaming Partners. “By seeing more than 1,300 qualified investment opportunities a year, we get a bird’s eye view into the industry and what it will take to succeed in the next phase of interactive entertainment across platforms, genres and demographics.”
From Seed to Growth: Extraordinary Value for Entrepreneurs
Investing in seed through growth rounds, Griffin’s track record is a result of pattern recognition drawn from historical knowledge, proprietary research, and hands-on experience supporting portfolio company growth. The Griffin team analyzes enormous amounts of data and reviews over 1,300 qualified investment opportunities per year to inform perspectives on growth, retention, and monetization. The firm assists portfolio companies with recruiting and business development leveraging its unique resources and focus on gaming.
Investing at the Intersection of Content, Software Infrastructure, and Social Platforms
Griffin makes complementary investments across the gaming ecosystem supporting its intelligence-based, data-driven investment strategy focusing on proven teams with experience scaling businesses.
According to Nick Tuosto, Managing Director of Griffin Gaming Partners and LionTree, “Our thesis is simply that, with our dedicated focus and analytical capabilities, we can make sense of enormous quantities of data and see around corners. That informs our assessment of risk-reward, but also enables us to go to work for our portfolio companies through business development and aligned advice on navigating these highly dynamic market conditions.” He added, “We’re there for our portfolio companies to help open the right doors at the right time to unlock transformational opportunities.”
About Griffin Gaming Partners
Griffin Gaming Partners is one of the world’s largest venture capital firms singularly focused on the global gaming market with over $1B AUM. The firm was founded by Peter Levin, Phil Sanderson, and Nick Tuosto, with LionTree as a strategic partner to the Fund. Investing in seed through growth stages at the intersection of infrastructure, distribution, content, and platforms, Griffin deploys capital to companies like Forte, WinZO, Overwolf, Discord, AppLovin, Tactile, Spyke Games, Neon, Hadi, DeHorizon,SuperTeam, and Palm. For disclaimers and more information: https://griffingp.com/
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Media Contact: Nicole DeMeo, Outfront Solutions, nicole@outfront.solutions, 415.533.2599
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