Huobi Ventures launches $10M fund for early-stage GameFi investment

Developers continue to find new ways to combine digital assets and gaming, and investors are taking notice.

Huobi cryptocurrency exchange’s dedicated investment arm, Huobi Ventures, has set up a $10-million fund to invest in early-stage GameFi projects that combine decentralized finance (DeFi) features with gaming.

The fund will provide direct investment to projects that integrate blockchain gaming with DeFi mechanisms. The GameFi business models allow users to earn dividends through features including “play to earn.” 

On Aug. 5, Cointelegraph reported on a $100-million fund allocation by Huobi Ventures toward DeFi projects focused on asset management. The projects shortlisted for Huobi’s investment will receive funding and support from Huobi Group, its incubator program, Huobi X Center, and Huobi Eco Chain (HECO).

In addition, the investee companies and projects will receive Huobi’s backing in terms of PR support, financial and legal advice, technical support for project deployment, and commercial assistance.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Huobi Ventures director Unica Yin said that the gaming industry’s play-to-earn model has seen astronomical growth:

“We think that going forward, blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize gaming business models and will play a core role in the next generation of games.”

Huobi Ventures has launched three separate funds to date dedicated to blockchain technology, HECO Ecology, and nonfungible tokens (NFT). Yin hopes that Huobi’s investment fund will help build impactful GameFi projects. 

“We will provide support and resources to help these projects scale and take advantage of Huobi Group’s ecosystem,” she said.

Related: Play-to-earn gold rush as Crypto Gaming Guild and Zebedee raise millions from VCs

As the play-to-earn model in DeFi gaming picks up steam, Crypto Gaming United, an NFT-focused gaming community, raised $5 million in seed funding attended by oversubscribed investors.

On Thursday, DeFi Land, a blockchain gamification platform, reported a $4.1-million investment to launch a new DeFi game on the Solana blockchain.