Japan’s Gumi, making mobile game hits such as Brave Frontier, has launched a $30 million global blockchain investment fund. The fund, dubbed Gumi Cryptos, will invest in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology companies. In doing so, it is latching on to the decentralized, transparent ledger technology that has helped cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum take off. Gumi Cryptos is led by Hironao Kunimitsu, founder and CEO of Tokyo-based Gumi, and Miko Matsumura, founder of U.S.-based virtual currency exchange Evercoin. The fund offers its portfolio companies a strategic venture capital investment partner with unique access to the Japan cryptocurrency market through its network of investors and management board. “We’ll be bringing startups from outside of Japan to the Japanese market,” Matsumura said in an interview with GamesBeat. “We like early stage. We invest in equity or tokens. We like financial services. We like game … [Read more...] about Japan’s Gumi launches $30 million global blockchain investment fund
Global emerging market fund
Romania’s Carbon is an emerging markets ‘micropublisher’
Gaming has gone global, and Carbon wants to make it even more so. The Romanian company wants to help small game developers get off the ground by serving as a “micropublisher,” or one that deals with very small but talented game developers. Carbon’s vision is to enrich the global game industry with new sources of talent and creativity, as a way to counter the rise of mobile gaming’s monolithic giants such as Supercell, King, Niantic, and MZ in the West as well as Tencent, NetEase, and Netmarble in the East. “We witnessed a Cambrian extinction event among indie game studios,” said Mihai Pohontu, CEO of Amber, a game agency and outsourcing services firm that spun out Carbon as a separate company. He is also a board member and shareholder at Carbon. Above: Marble Land is a physics-based VR title.Image Credit: Carbon Carbon will focus on Easter Europe at first, but it isn’t in focusing on emerging markets, as Altered Ventures also announced a … [Read more...] about Romania’s Carbon is an emerging markets ‘micropublisher’
Top Emerging Trends in the Global Factoring Market
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 25, 2018--Technavio’s latest market research report on the provides an analysis of the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2018-2022. defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline.This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180425006376/en/Technavio has published a new market research report on the global factoring market from 2018-2022. (Graphic: Business Wire)According to Technavio market research analysts, the will grow at a CAGR of over 13% during the forecast period. The growing need for an alternative source of financing for MSMEs is a major factor driving the market’s growth.To expand business, develop new products, and invest in better inventory management systems and production facilities, financing is very important for MSMEs. Financing can be done … [Read more...] about Top Emerging Trends in the Global Factoring Market
Even as markets shake, investors seek the riskiest corners
NEW YORK (AP) — Even the suddenly shaky stock market hasn't scared people away from investments that are supposed to be some of the world's riskiest.In a surprising twist, investors have continued to pump money into funds that own Chinese technology giants, Thai energy companies and other stocks from developing countries. At the same time, investors have become more hesitant about U.S. stock funds, even though both have turned in losses since the market started struggling in February.The split is notable because emerging-market stock funds have historically had higher highs — and more painful lows — during troubled times. But the preference shows how much growth investors see for companies from the world's fastest-growing economies, where middle classes are expanding.More importantly, a long list of big-name investors see emerging markets as offering something rare in the world: prices that aren't too expensive.U.S. stocks in the S&P 500 are close to their highest … [Read more...] about Even as markets shake, investors seek the riskiest corners
The game industry is finally making its way into emerging markets
The recent Game Developers Conference had a diverse collection of attendees and speakers from all over the world. Some of them had trouble making it into San Francisco, thanks to heavier border screening. But a map of where people came from (above) showed that game development has spread all over the world. At GDC, GamesBeat held a breakfast panel about the growth of emerging markets for games, and how much progress the $116 billion industry has made. Once upon a time, all you needed for this growth to happen was stores and electricity. But now games are connected, and it takes broadband connectivity and a number of other factors for games and game studios to thrive. Our speakers included Nelson Rodriguez, global director of media industry strategy at Akamai, Mario Valle Reyes, managing director of Altered VC, a new venture investment fund for emerging markets; Sridhar Muppidi, CEO of YesGnome in India; and Javier Entelman, CEO of Inca Games in Buenos Aires. Valle Reyes will speak … [Read more...] about The game industry is finally making its way into emerging markets