Japan’s Gumi Games Founder Launches $30M Crypto Fund

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Japanese mobile games publisher gumi today launches a fund to invest in promising global cryptocurrency companies. With USD 30 million in initial investment secured, the venture capital fund is moving to open up the Japanese crypto startup market to international investors, honing in on a target that has, up to now, been a struggle to access and understand.

While the Japanese yen accounts for over 56 percent of Bitcoin volume, gumi believes that there is lack of understanding of Japan’s crypto market and the project’s leaders are keen to fill a void in the country that was also the first to legalize bitcoin.

“We decided to create a fund that enables us to engage more directly with early-stage blockchain and cryptocurrency startups, in order to be more effective partners and have a real impact in the market,” said Hironao Kunimitsu, Founder and CEO of gumi, in a statement. ”Our team brings tremendous expertise in emerging technology, and with gumi Cryptos, we can truly partner with these companies as they achieve amazing results for all stakeholders.”

For its portfolio companies, the gumi Cryptos fund offers a strategic venture capital investment partner with unique access to the Japan cryptocurrency market through its network of investors and management board. These include Miko Matsumura, founder of US-exchange Evercoin, Venture Partner at BitBull Capital and an advisor at Arrington XRP Capital. He has helped to raise over USD 250 million to date for companies such as Bee Token, the Decentralized AirBnB and crypto lending platform Celsius Network.

“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, said Matsumura. “I’m excited to join gumi and their well-respected network in Japan.”