Bitkraft onboards ex-Garena CEO and former Temasek director

The Bitkraft team / Photo credit: Bitkraft Ventures

Bitkraft Ventures, an investment firm focused on gaming and Web3, has expanded its team in Asia with the appointment of former Garena CEO Jin Oh as a partner as well as former Temasek director Jonathan Huang as principal.

The fresh appointees bring with them experience in the Asian market, which will help Bitkraft identify and invest in “promising” gaming and interactive entertainment startups across both Web2 and Web3 in the region.

Oh will be responsible for leading Bitkraft Ventures’ Asia investments and supporting the firm’s global initiatives, while Huang will be responsible for the entire investment process – from origination to evaluation, structuring, and closing.

Bitkraft operates four venture funds with over US$600 million in assets under management and has a portfolio of over 100 companies as of August 2022. The company’s network includes former executives from the likes of Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, Epic Games, Google, and Apple.

The VC firm has also promoted members of its team, namely Los Angeles-based Jasper Brand and South Africa-based Justin Swart. Brand now holds the position of partner, while Swart has been promoted to principal.

Brand will continue to focus on Bitkraft’s game studio strategy, emerging opportunities in AI and user-generated content, and overall US coverage. Meanwhile, Swart will cover the Africa region, which has seen its number of gamers double in the last five years.

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The geographical distribution of Bitkraft’s team enables them to see regional trends and opportunities early and execute deals on a global basis, Bitkraft founding general partner Jen Hilgers said in a statement.

The team’s expansion comes after Bitkraft raised US$221 million in its second token fund, whose target is set at US$240 million.