- FanAI and ProGuides investor GFR Fund raised $20M for a second fund.
- The new GFR Fund II will focus on digital entertainment startups including FanAI and ProGuides.
- GFR Fund is backed by strategic investors in Asia and is affiliated with mobile gaming company GREE.
Venture capital fund GFR Fund has raised $20M USD to launch a second fund, GFR Fund II, that will focus on the digital entertainment sector, including esports entities like FanAI 
and ProGuides.
“We are looking beyond traditional game developers to invest in disruptive entertainment technologies,” Teppei Tsutsui, GFR Fund managing partner, said. “There is a new wave of founders and creators who are creatively combining existing technologies to offer new, scalable experiences, and that is very exciting. We have seen this already in products like Discord, and the market is ready for more new innovations.”
The San Francisco-based GFR Fund has multiple strategic investors from Asia, and the first two investments in its new GFR Fund II portfolio will be Santa Monica-based audience monetization platform FanAI and Los Angeles-based freemium esports platform ProGuides.
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“GFR Fund has a deep understanding of gaming and esports in both Asia and U.S. markets, that combined with their focus on entertainment makes GFR a great partner as we expand into new verticals,” said Johannes Waldstein, founder and CEO of FanAI. “We will use the investment to expand our team and scale our business from an esports-focused SaaS model to a platform that encompasses sports and entertainment.”
ProGuides CEO Sam Wang said that GFR’s investment in his startup will be used to expand the company’s platform to “include more games and influencers.”
Earlier this year FanAI acquired esports data company Waypoint Media, and the company has a deal to provide audience data to Hi-Rez Studios that was unveiled in December.
