Gumi and Shinsei Bank Launch Fund for Game Devs in China and Singapore

Tokyo-based social game developer Gumi announced Monday that it has partnered with Shinsei Bank and set up a fund for investing in game developers in mainland China and Singapore. Japan’s economic daily Nikkei reports the fund is expected to invest in developers who are aiming at developing apps and games for consumers in North America. During the next two years, the two companies intend to invest in 10 to 15 companies, with about 10-30 million yen ($125,000 to $375,000) for each investment. Gumi is investing 50 million yen and Shinsei contributes 300 million yen ($3.75 million) to the fund.

Gumi established their local subsidiary in Singapore in April, and appointed David Ng Meng Wah as the president. He previously served as an executive at Electric Arts APAC and Malay conglomerate Dijaya.

The company’s CEO/founder Hironao Kunimitsu tells us he aspires to make his venture into a top social developer in the world gaming market, and the investment is one of their strategies to obtain high potential game titles and talented resources from the region.

Shinsei Bank was originally founded almost 60 years ago as a LTCB (Long-term Credit Bank of Japan) but went bankrupt and was nationalized in 1998. Then it was privatized and taken over by US-based private equity firm Ripplewood in 2000, and now most of its shareholders are institutional non-Japan investors.