Sisu Games Launches $50M Fund for Gaming Startups - SEC Filing
Sisu Game Ventures Secures $50 Million First Close for New Fund
A recent SEC Form D filing reveals that Sisu Game Ventures, a fund specializing in pre-seed and seed investments within the gaming sector, has achieved a $50 million first close on its latest fund. The firm itself has not offered any official statement regarding this development.
Recent Investment Activity
Paul Bragiel, a partner at Sisu – established in 2014 – confirmed that the firm has been actively deploying capital, making several investments throughout the summer period. Notably, these investments included a venture founded by a former executive from Zynga.
The Sisu team possesses extensive experience within the gaming industry, with members having held entrepreneurial, operational, and investment roles at prominent companies. These include Remedy, Unity, Disney, Niantic, Funcom, and EA.
Portfolio Composition
To date, the fund has completed 14 investments. These are divided equally between follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies, such as Resolution Games and Lightheart Entertainment, and new additions to the portfolio.
New portfolio companies include Theorycraft Games, Playco, and Core Loop.
Investor Base
Bragiel indicated that the investor base for Sisu Fund III is overwhelmingly comprised of entities from within the games industry itself. This includes major global studios like Supercell, platform holders, and publishers such as Sony and Ubisoft.
Individual founders of gaming studios also represent a significant portion of the fund’s investors.
Long-Term Founder Support
Sisu prioritizes building lasting relationships with founders. The firm actively seeks to support entrepreneurs across multiple ventures.
“We aim to provide ongoing backing to founders we believe in, investing in all of their future company creations after an initial investment,” Bragiel stated.
Investment Strategy
Sisu distinguishes itself by investing at an early stage, often before a product is fully developed or key performance indicators are established. The fund also employs a “studio builder” approach, working closely with individual founders.
Recent Portfolio Highlights
Examples of this strategy include Lightheart Entertainment and their debut title, Mr. Autofire, as well as Mainframe Industries, which is currently developing an unannounced cloud-native massively multiplayer online game (MMO).
Successful Exits
The fund has already realized eight successful exits. These include the acquisition of Small Giant Games by Zynga for $700 million, King’s acquisition of Hatrabbit, Next Games’ acquisition of Helsinki Gameworks, and Flaregames’ acquisition of Kopla Games.
