Quick take:
- Jon Goldman has raised $50 million for his newly launched Tower 26 Venture Fund.
- The veteran gaming industry investors said the fund will invest in VR games and the metaverse.
- The new fund will focus on large financing opportunities, including seed and follow-through investments.
Jon Goldman has launched a $50 million venture fund to invest in extended reality startups. The veteran gaming investors said the Tower 26 Venture Fund will target large financing opportunities including seed and follow-on investments in the VR gaming and the metaverse space.
The fund’s name is based on Tower 26 lifeguard tower in Venice, California, which Goldman visited regularly during the pandemic to work. “I got to do calls there all day long, and it was pleasant part of the experience,” he told Venture Beat.
He is a renowned figure in the video game industry, having found Foundation 9, which he served as chairman and CEO until 2006 when he sold the company.
His company developed several video games including some based on top-tier global brands such as Star Wars, The Matrix, The Simpsons, and Lord of the Rings.
He is currently the managing director at Skybound, the company behind the hit TV series “The Walking Dead”. He still serves as a board partner at Greycroft and runs the GC Tracker Fund.
“I’ve got a lot of different things going on, which can help me be an effective venture partner or a partner to portfolio companies. I’m still active in entertainment and still active in video games,” he said.
The gaming industry is one of the most exciting segments of the entertainment sector and Goldman is determined to make the most out of the current boom in VR gaming and the metaverse.
Commenting on his fund’s decision to focus on VR gaming and the 3D immersive world, Goldman said investors are more accustomed to entrepreneurs and game makers getting into the field, as compared to 2015 when there were a lot of “newbies that had probably never finished a game.”
“We’re getting real game makers doing things now.”
Regarding VR gaming, Goldman said the fund will prioritise “entrepreneurs who have closed off games before, and ideally, at least critically acclaimed games, if not commercially successful.”
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