Hiro Capital launches second €300m (/$340m) Videogames and Metaverse Technologies venture fund

Hiro Capital – the leading specialist European VC focused on Videogames, Metaverse Technologies, Creator Platforms and Gamified Fitness – announces the launch of HIRO CAPITAL II, a €300m ($340m) fund focused on backing the world’s emerging Gaming and Metaverse innovators. Hiro II will be announcing its first investments in April.

Hiro’s new fund invests in entrepreneurial teams at Seed, A and B across the UK, Europe and North America (and selectively ROW), building innovative and disruptive leaders in Games, Esports, Creator Platforms and Gamified Fitness.

Founded in 2018, Hiro’s name was inspired by Hiro Protagonist, the sword-wielding, Metaverse-hacking samurai hero of Neil Stephenson’s seminal Snowcrash, a novel about video games, VR, digital assets and the neocortex. Since launch, Hiro has been investing in sci-fi, story-telling IPs and the deep future of games and metaverse technology. Hiro believes strongly in Games as a force for good.

Building on the momentum of Fund I

Between 2019 and 2022, Hiro has made 21 Series A and B Games and Metaverse investments across the UK, EU and USA. The Hiro 1 portfolio is now c.80% invested and is performing strongly, across fast-growing investments such as Polyarc (Seattle) , FitXR (London), FRVR (Lisbon), Keen Games (Frankfurt), Snowprint (Stockholm), LOCO (India) and LIV (Prague). Hiro Capital also co-led a $22m investor consortium alongside Blackrock and Westerly Winds, as part of a Series C round in London-based gamified femtech star Elvie. Hiro’s investors included some of the world’s largest games and technology companies.

“We have been believers in the Metaverse since we created the fund in 2018. Our goal with Hiro is to bring founder-focused venture funding to Games studios and Metaverse technology creators. In 2022 we are at a pivotal moment in the very early phases of the Metaverse, VR, AR and Web3 — these revolutions will take at least a decade and much of the creativity and technology innovation will start in Games. As a team, we have the experience and networks to support the incredible talent that we find across Europe, the UK and beyond. Our new fund gives us more firepower to find and develop emerging stars and level them up to global scale.” Luke Alvarez

Hiro Metaverse Acquisitions 1

In Jan 2022, Hiro Capital 1 became the lead sponsor in a new acquisition vehicle focused on the Videogaming and Metaverse sectors. Hiro Metaverse Acquisitions 1 began trading on the LSE on Feb 7th, only the second ever SPAC to list in London. Hiro MA1 raised £115m (c.$150m) to target Games and Metaverse acquisitions in the $600m-$2.25bn range.

Investing in Games and the Metaverse

With Hiro Capital 1, Hiro Capital II and Hiro MA1, Hiro’s AUM total c.$650m, entirely focused on Games and Metaverse innovators in the UK, Europe and beyond.

Partners with deep knowledge of gaming

The three Hiro founding partners have co-founded startups generating billions of value in exits, have completed five public IPO’s and have scaled six >$500m-sized games companies.

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Hiro Managing General Partner, Luke Alvarez, founded Inspired Entertainment, a >$600m EV Nasdaq-listed Virtual Sports games technology leader. Luke is also co-founder of Sknups — a Web3 games skin platform — and was a founding director of The Cloud Network, an early public access cloud platform backed by Accel and acquired by Sky.

Hiro General Partner, Cherry Freeman, co-founded the global community and e-commerce brand LoveCrafts and has spent 10 years working and angel investing in venture-backed tech companies including Elvie, New Voice Media and Mimecast (currently being acquired for $5.8bn).

Hiro General Partner Sir Ian Livingstone is the co-founder and former chairman of Eidos plc (Lara Croft:Tomb Raider), co-founder of Games Workshop (Warhammer) and co-author of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series. Sir Ian was also an early investor and chairman of Playdemic (sold to EA for $1.4bn in 2021), Tonic Games (sold to Epic in 2021) and Sumo plc (sold to Tencent for $1.3bn in 2022). Ian is also the founder of the Livingstone Academy, a creative, games and compsci focused UK Academy school. Sir Ian is passionate about games and technology playing a key role in educating the next generations of kids.

In addition to the success of Hiro Capital I, on Jan 1 2022 Ian Livingstone CBE became Sir Ian Livingstone CBE as he was formally knighted by HM Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the videogames industry.