Leading mobile game publisher gumi Inc. has announced a new cryptocurrency fund with an initial investment of $30 million, with the goal of investing in early-stage crypto startups. The fund, called Gumi cryptos, offers its portfolio companies a strategic viewpoint into the Japanese market. To date, the fund has made four investments, investing in Basis, Origin Protocol, Robot Cache and Pryze.
The fund is led by founder and CEO of gumi Inc. Hironao Kunimitsu, alongside Miko Matsumura, founder of US based cryptocurrency exchange Evercoin. Matsumura has a track record of success and vast amount of experience in the crypto and investment sector, having made investments in Lyft, Basecoin, FileCoin, Brave and Polymath to name a few. He is also the venture partner at BitBull capital and an advisor at Arrington XRP Capital, which was founded by TechCrunch co-founder Michael Arrington.
Given that the Japanese market is notoriously difficult to understand and access, the gumi Cryptos fund will essentially help accelerate the process. Going by the numbers, Japan accounts for more than half of the global bitcoin trading volume, and Japan also happens to be the first country to legalize bitcoin. The country’s cryptocurrency ecosystem is thriving, with six different Japanese companies announcing plans to launch cryptocurrency exchanges.
Commenting on the launch of gumi Cryptos, Matsumura said
“Having advised top global cryptocurrency startups alongside some of the best investors in the world, I’ve come to realize that all of them struggle to break into Japan, the largest cryptocurrency market in the world. I’m excited to join gumi and their well-respected network in Japan.”