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VCs invest in games not platforms, says Yetizen CEO

But average amounts fell in 2013

VCs invest in games not platforms, says Yetizen CEO

Yetizen's CEO Sana Choudary took the stage at AppNation in San Francisco to deliver some surprising, data-driven insight into venture capitalist investment in the games sector.

"Earlier this year, a lot of the press said game investments are dead," began Choudary, who runs the San Francisco incubator program.

"They also say that VCs don't invest in games. They invest in platforms."

In reality, Choudary contends that the exact opposite is true.

She based her points on data provided by the Raymond James investment bank and Crunchbase, and was careful to filter out seed investments and Kickstarter crowdfundings since they historically do not lead to bigger VC investments.

VCs

Looking specifically at professional investors, Choudary found that they made 10 investments in game studios in 2013, compared to seven from the preceding year.

Additionally, 2013 saw only one VC investment in a game platform, down from three in 2012.

"The myth is the game platforms are getting the investments", Choudary summarized.

But all isn't rosy for game studios looking for VC funding, however - Choudary's data found that the median investment decreased from $4 million in 2012 to $1.95 million in 2013.

[Source: VentureBeat]


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