How to Find Investors for a Gaming Startup: Stage Mix, States and Fund Sizes
To find investors for a gaming startup, start from our list of 67 gaming investors and narrow it by stage, place and fund size. Seed is the stage they name most (43 of the 55 with a stage on file), ahead of pre-seed. About two thirds are in the US, where California leads with 14. The median fund on file from SEC Form D is $50M, level with the $50M for every investor we hold with such a figure.
Among the 36 sectors we can compare, gaming has the lowest share of US investors with a Form D filing in the last 12 months: 27%, against 38% of all US investors we hold. By type, the 67 are 65 VC firms, 1 fund manager and 1 angel network. The tags these investors most often carry beside gaming are consumer (49), AI (46) and SaaS and B2B software (40).
What do gaming investors look for?
A games pitch is read through the team's record and the early numbers from players. Investors ask what the team has shipped before, how long players stay and what it costs to bring a new one in compared with what that player spends.
- What has the team shipped? Released titles, and the role each person held on them, are worth putting first.
- How many players come back the next day, the next week and the next month? Retention at those three points is a common early test of a game.
- What does a player cost, and what do they spend? The gap between the two decides whether marketing can scale.
Which stage do gaming investors back?
Among the 55 of the 67 with a stage on file (a firm can state several), seed comes first with 43 (78%), then pre-seed (22), Series A (19), growth (13) and Series B (6). Set against every investor we hold, the group leans toward seed (78% here, 75% overall) and away from growth (24% here, 28% overall). With about four fifths naming seed, a seed round has the widest field on this list.
| Stage (our research) | Gaming investors | Share of the 55 with a stage on file | Share of all 67 on the list | Same share, all investors with a stage | Difference in points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed gaming investors | 22 | 40% | 33% | 39% | +1 |
| Seed gaming investors | 43 | 78% | 64% | 75% | +3 |
| Series A gaming investors | 19 | 35% | 28% | 34% | +1 |
| Series B | 6 | 11% | 9% | 14% | -3 |
| Growth | 13 | 24% | 19% | 28% | -4 |
Where are gaming investors based?
About two thirds of the list is American: 45 of the 67 are in the US, 14 in the UK and 7 in the rest of Europe. Among the 44 US investors with a state on file, California holds about a third (14), less than its 36% share of all US investors we hold. New York is a distant second with 6, then Florida (4) and Massachusetts (4).
| State | Gaming investors | Share of the 44 with a state on file | Share of all US investors | Difference in points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 14 | 32% | 36% | -4 |
| New York | 6 | 14% | 15% | -1 |
| Florida | 4 | 9% | 6% | +3 |
| Massachusetts | 4 | 9% | 6% | +3 |
By city, counting the head offices of every type of investor, the largest groups are New York (5), San Francisco (4) and Palo Alto (3).
| City | State | Gaming investors | Share of the 45 in the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | NY | 5 | 11% |
| San Francisco | CA | 4 | 9% |
| Palo Alto | CA | 3 | 7% |
One region has its own list: Gaming venture capital firms in the US (45).
How big are gaming funds?
Across the 34 of the 67 gaming investors with a fund size from SEC Form D on file, the median is $50M, level with the $50M for every investor we hold with such a figure. About a third of these funds are under $25M and about two fifths are $100M or more. The figure is the fund as filed, not a check size, and a firm's main fund on our record, which is not always its newest; for 9 of the 34 the offering amount is indefinite, so it is the amount sold so far.
| Fund size on file (SEC Form D) | Gaming investors | Share | Share, all investors with a figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $10M | 6 | 18% | 15% |
| $10M to $25M | 6 | 18% | 18% |
| $25M to $50M | 2 | 6% | 15% |
| $50M to $100M | 6 | 18% | 19% |
| $100M to $250M | 11 | 32% | 19% |
| $250M to $1B | 2 | 6% | 12% |
| $1B and over | 1 | 3% | 1% |
Which gaming investors can you look at first?
Games investors fall into those who fund studios making content and those who fund tools, platforms and infrastructure. A content fund judges the team and the game, and a platform fund judges the product the way it would judge software. Send each the material it is used to reading. The gaming tag on our list also covers betting and real-money gaming, so check which kind a firm backs before you write.
The 9 firms below are among the free rows of our list of gaming venture capital firms in the US (45): each names the sector in its own description, and they stand in that list's order, by our activity score, which is no measure of quality.
BITKRAFT Ventures
HQ: Not stated · Type: VC firm · Stages (our research): Seed, Series A, Series B · Latest activity: Form D filing, Jul 2026 · Fund size on file: $275M (SEC Form D, 2024)
Venture firm investing in gaming and related experience technologies, backing founders in how people play, heal, grow and connect.
Bettor Capital
HQ: Hoboken, New Jersey · Type: VC firm · Stages (our research): Growth · Latest activity: Portfolio news, Jun 2026 (our research) · Fund size on file: $120M (SEC Form D, 2021)
Hoboken, NJ investor backing software and technology providers serving the real money online gaming and sports betting industry, including payments, analytics and AI tools.
Tusk Venture Partners
HQ: New York, New York · Type: VC firm · Stages (our research): Seed · Latest activity: New deal, Jul 2025 (our research) · Fund size on file: $139M (SEC Form D, 2021)
New York, NY early-stage venture firm investing in technology companies in heavily regulated markets such as transportation, fintech, digital health and gaming.
Greenwave Ventures
HQ: Palmetto, Florida · Type: VC firm · Stages (our research): Seed, Series A · Latest activity: Form D filing, Aug 2026 · Fund size on file: $6M (SEC Form D, 2025)
Backs capital-efficient companies in sports technology, sports gaming and B2B software, with some applied AI investments.
Courtside Ventures
HQ: New York, New York · Type: VC firm · Stages (our research): Pre-seed, Seed, Series A · Latest activity: Form D filing, Jun 2024 · Fund size on file: $100M (SEC Form D, 2021)
New York, NY early-stage venture fund focused on sports, lifestyle and gaming startups, investing in multiple countries.
ADvantage
HQ: Gahanna, Ohio · Type: VC firm · Stages (our research): Seed · Latest activity: Form D filing, Jun 2024 · Fund size on file: $90M (SEC Form D, 2024)
Gahanna, OH venture fund backing early-stage companies in the sports industry, including fan engagement, athlete technology, fantasy, gaming and esports.
Sisu Ventures
HQ: S. Barrington, Illinois · Type: VC firm · Stages (our research): Pre-seed · Latest activity: Form D filing, Apr 2023 · Fund size on file: $50M (SEC Form D, 2021)
Early-stage venture fund focused entirely on games, investing very early and often pre-product, with Nordic roots and a global portfolio.
Astralis Capital
HQ: Key Biscayne, Florida · Type: VC firm · Stages (our research): Seed · Private fund assets: $10M (SEC Form ADV)
Key Biscayne, FL investor backing companies in real money gaming, sports, media and adjacent technology from seed onward.
Game Changers Ventures
HQ: New York, New York · Type: VC firm · Stages (our research): Seed · Latest activity: Form D filing, Sep 2025 · Fund size on file: $100M (SEC Form D, 2025)
New York early-stage venture firm investing in sports, media, gaming and entertainment, with about $100M under management.
Which US gaming investors filed with the SEC most recently?
12 of the 45 US gaming investors (27%) have a Form D filing dated in the 12 months to 6 Nov 2026, a first notice or the yearly amendment of an older fund, below the 38% for all US investors we hold. Our file of new fund notices for the 8 weeks to 6 Nov 2026 holds 1 from 1 of these investors: Bewater.
| Investor | Location | Stages (our research) | Latest Form D filing | Amount on that filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GrayHair Venture Partners | Ridgewood, New Jersey | Seed | 4 Nov 2026 | $20M |
| Bewater | Winnetka, Illinois | Not stated | 5 Oct 2026 | $150M |
| Greenwave Ventures | Palmetto, Florida | Seed, Series A | 3 Aug 2026 | $6M |
| Parlay Capital | Atlanta, Georgia | Pre-seed, Seed, Series A | 23 Jul 2026 | $5M |
| Lightspeed Venture Partners | Menlo Park, California | Seed, Series A, Series B, Growth | 15 Jul 2026 | Not stated |
| Pamir Ventures | Austin, Texas | Pre-seed, Seed | 15 Jul 2026 | Not stated |
| BITKRAFT Ventures | Not stated | Seed, Series A, Series B | 9 Jul 2026 | $275M |
| Danu Ventures | White Plains, New York | Not stated | 27 May 2026 | $9M |
What should a gaming founder have ready before the first email?
A games company is judged on its team and its early player data, so send both.
- The titles the team has shipped, with the role each person held.
- Retention one day, seven days and thirty days after install, from a playable build or a test release.
- Cost per install against revenue per player, if you have run paid marketing.
Words gaming investors use
- D1, D7, D30
- The share of new players who return one, seven and thirty days after installing.
- ARPDAU
- Average revenue per daily active user.
- CPI
- Cost per install: advertising spend divided by the installs it produced.
- Soft launch
- A release in a few test markets to measure retention and spending before the full launch.
A common slip. Sending a trailer with no playable build. A build, or data from a test release, answers questions a video cannot.
How do you reach gaming investors?
84% of the list has a named decision-maker on file (56 of 67, 258 names in all), in line with the 84% across the whole database. About two fifths have a firm email address (27), and 17 publish how they want to be pitched, such as a form or an application page.
Use a pitch route where a firm publishes one, and otherwise write to one named person at a time, starting from the free outreach email templates; the full list is Gaming investors, all 67 investors, one per row, the first 25 free to read, and the matching tool opens with gaming already picked.
One-time payment. No subscription. No account.
Or get the free sample file (100 investors) first.
Method and limits
- Source
- SEC Form D for filing dates and fund sizes; our own research (each firm's website, UK and EU registers) for stage, the sector tag and dated deals.
- Counts
- The 67 rows of the list this page links to, as of November 2026, set against all 4,178 investors we hold (3,019 in the US); a gap under 3 points is treated as none, and a rank compares the sectors that have a list on this site and at least 30 rows for the measure (10 for a median fund size).
- Limits
- 1,302 US firms have no sector on file, so the true number of gaming investors is higher; 55 of the 67 here have a stage on file and 34 a fund size from SEC Form D; what investors look for, which ones to keep, the words they use and what to have ready are our advice for this sector, not data about any one investor.
Questions
How do I find investors for a gaming startup?
Start from the list of 67 gaming investors, then filter by stage (43 of the 55 with a stage on file name seed), by place (32% of the US ones with a state on file are in California) and by fund size (the median fund on file is $50M).
What do gaming investors ask founders?
What has the team shipped? How many players come back the next day, the next week and the next month? What does a player cost, and what do they spend?
How big are gaming funds?
The median fund on file is $50M across the 34 gaming investors with a figure from SEC Form D, level with the $50M for every investor we hold with such a figure.
Can I contact gaming investors directly?
56 of the 67 have a named decision-maker on file and 27 a firm email address; 17 publish a pitch route, and where one exists it is the way in they ask for.
Guides for other sectors
How to find consumer products and CPG investorsHow to find consumer investorsHow to find ecommerce investorsHow to find edtech investorsHow to find proptech and real estate tech investorsHow to find climate tech investorsHow to find deep tech investorsHow to find hardware investorsHow to find impact investorsHow to find food and beverage investorsHow to find SaaS and B2B software investorsHow to find fintech investorsHow to find AI investorsHow to find healthtech and digital health investorsHow to find cybersecurity investors
Related
Gaming investors (67)Gaming venture capital firms in the US (45)Seed gaming investors (43)Pre-seed gaming investors (22)Match gaming investors to your roundHow to build an investor listInvestor outreach email templatesHow many investors to pitchInvestor databases comparedWhat is in the investor database
Cite this page
Muhammad Tayyab Shabbir, "How to Find Investors for a Gaming Startup: Stage Mix, States and Fund Sizes", The Investor Database, 10 Nov 2026. https://theinvestordatabase.com/guides/how-to-find-investors-for-a-gaming-startup/