Japanese game maker Akatsuki’s US$20 million bet on Asia

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Hello reader,

I’ve been playing video games since I was seven years old. Marvel vs. Capcom was one of the first games to blow my little mind.

Though I didn’t know who Captain Commando was at the time, that didn’t stop me from getting excited over him. And did you know that Shadow is just palette-swapped Charlie, Guile’s best friend who’s been brainwashed by M. Bison to become evil? Astonished gasp

Anyway, video games have since come a long way from being “that thing only nerds do” to something much more mainstream. The industry is now making headline news in publications outside the niche.

Case in point: Today’s premium article talks about Japanese mobile game maker Akatsuki and its US$20 million fund to back Web3 projects in Asia.

Today we look at:

• How Akatsuki plans to spend its US$20 million war chest
• The pre-series A funding round of an India-based weight management startup
• Other newsy highlights such as AirAsia taking its first steps into ride-hailing in Thailand and Gucci’s latest smart ring accessory

Premium summary

Betting on the future of gaming in Asia

Image credit: Timmy Loen

For most of my life, gaming has always felt separate from everything else. Movies and TV shows seemed to fit more naturally with general pop culture. But then, blockbuster hits like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft brought the scene into the mainstream, and the popularity of games has kept growing since.

The industry has more than its fair share of unsavory news, but business-wise, it’s been pretty much nothing but up. Japan-based Akatsuki certainly thinks that’s the direction of Web3 entertainment in Asia, and it’s putting its money – all US$20 million of it – where its mouth is.

• Hit the ground running: Called Emoote, the corporate venture capital fund was established in Singapore in 2021 and has already started deploying its capital. Among the companies it has invested in are move-to-earn running app StepN and BreederDAO, a GameFi factory of non-fungible tokens.

• Home cooking: While Asia-based projects and companies account for half of the fund’s current portfolio, 40% are based in the US while the remaining 10% come from other regions. Moving forward, the fund will focus on Asia while keeping a global mindset.

Shaping up with US$1.5 million

Quick bytes