Early-stage gaming and consumer investor Patron has raised $100 million for its second fund with backing from a bench of venture capital all-stars, another sign that LPs are warming back up to the sector.
Backers of the new fund include Andreessen Horowitz founder Marc Andreessen, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, SV Angel founder Ron Conway and Union Square Ventures co-founder Fred Wilson.
Patron was launched by former Riot Games executives Jason Yeh and Brian Cho. Its first fund closed with $90 million in 2021.
The firm backs startups applying gaming technologies to other verticals. Its portfolio includes Altera, a startup developing AI agents that can play video games alongside humans, which raised a $9 million seed round in May. Patron also recently backed Ego, a game development startup using generative AI to create interactive playable environments.
The $100 million raise comes on the heels of an improved VC dealmaking environment for gaming, according to PitchBook’s Q2 2024 Gaming Report. In Q2, $1.8 billion was invested across 136 deals, the third straight quarter of growth.
“LPs feel the industry is attractive—effectively a distinct asset class—and relatively insulated from macroeconomic dynamics,” PitchBook analyst Eric Bellomo said. “Games are now an opportunity to tap into rapidly accelerating technologies like AI.”
In April, gaming investor Bitkraft Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz’s gaming practice launched funds at $275 million and $600 million, respectively. Griffin Gaming Partners is in the process of raising its third flagship fund, targeting $500 million.
Featured image by Israel Sebastian/Getty Images
