Yahoo News Solana launches $150m Web 3.0 gaming fund
Solana Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Solana Labs, is launching a $150m (£113m) fund to invest in Web 3.0 game builders with Forte and Griffin Gaming Partners.
Solana Labs is the technology company working to help advance the Solana ecosystem. The news comes at a time when Solana (SOL1-USD) is being heralded as the main contender to knock Ethereum (ETH-USD) from its perch as the world’s pre-eminent network for decentralised finance.
The new initiative is in partnership with Forte, a provider of blockchain solutions for game publishers, and Griffin Gaming Partners, a venture capital firm focused on investing in the global gaming market.
Griffin has invested over $400m into gaming and web 3.0 gaming-related companies over the past two years. Web 3.0 is sometimes described as the new generation of the internet, with the aim to be a decentralised version of the virtual world.
Forte’s platform allows game publishers to easily integrate blockchain technologies into their games, with services built specifically for blockchain token economies and the management of digital and virtual assets.
This includes products for token wallets and non-fungible token (NFT) minting and selling.
In blockchain-enabled games, players can “truly own goods rather than making pure entertainment expenditures,” Solana Ventures said in a statement.
Players anywhere in the world can freely trade goods and services with each other and can participate in community economies that reward creativity, collaboration, and skill.
“Blockchain is enabling publishers to engage with their player bases in innovative ways,” said Forte Co-founder and CEO Josh Williams.
Read more: Solana: Why Ethereum's lesser known rival is steadily rising
“Where game developers once had to continuously create new content for players to consume as one-time purchases, with the advent of NFTs and other blockchain technologies, game developers can now offer their audiences real property rights and create self-sustaining and thriving economies within their games.”
He said Solana's ultra-fast and low-cost solutions ensure scalability, even at tens of thousands of transactions per second. This means building games is also cost-effective.
“Gaming and interactive media would not be a cornerstone of blockchain today if it weren’t for the many technical developments the community has accomplished in the past decade – Solana is a premier example, having helped pave the way with scalability and UX fit to match these demanding experiences,” said Pierre Planche, partner at Griffin.
This is the second blockchain gaming-focused investment initiative Solana Ventures has announced, following a $100m fund in collaboration with FTX and Lightspeed.
