GFR Fund Announces New Scout Fund, GFR Artists, Helping Young Companies Advance Productivity During COVID and Beyond

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Feb 11, 2021, 08:37 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GFR Fund (www.gfrfund.com), an early-stage #venture capital fund that invests in the #digital entertainment and #productivity sectors, announced today that it has completed the final offering of #GFR Artists. GFR Artists is a scout fund with a focus on early-stage startups in the #digital content, #e-commerce, and #remote work sectors, all marketplaces that are expected to grow during and post the #Coronavirus pandemic.

The GFR Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital fund that works with strategic investors to give early-stage technology companies the opportunity to accelerate growth in the digital entertainment sector.

GFR Artists was formed in July 2020 as a sub-fund of #GFR Fund II (formed in December 2018) and is led by @Teppei Tsutsui and @Nikhil Gopalani. The fund is looking to invest up to $100,000 each in 25-30 companies total. To date, GFR Artists has invested in 16 companies and plans to invest in ten more before the fund closes. Its investments are focused on businesses in North America and Europe.

"We have seen amazing ingenuity over the past year, but many of these companies were not ready for seed funding," said Teppei Tsutsui, Managing Partner of GFR Fund. "We wanted to boost these innovations, and give hope to these incredibly courageous founders. The creation of GFR Artists allowed us to invest on the ground floor of these smart and agile companies, as well as build a strong and eager angel investing network."

In addition to the investments, this fund has built an active network of entrepreneurs, scouts and angel investors, which is useful for discovering and selecting investment projects. GFR Artists has received a flood of opportunities and has been able to meet with founders once or twice remotely, and make investment decisions within a few days.

Nikhil Gopalani, Venture Partner at GFR Fund & Co-founder of GFR Artists has been an early-stage investor for the past seven years in more than 40 companies. "Like many during COVID, I realized that the world we are living in has completely changed, but this change has created opportunities for entrepreneurs to help us adapt," said Gopalani. "I was inspired to reach out to Teppei and partner with GFR to create a fund that enables these entrepreneurs. It takes a lot of guts to start a company during these times and we have met some truly amazing and inspiring founders."

In 2021, GFR Fund will be looking to further expand its portfolio and is seeking early-stage founders and technologies in digital entertainment, including the creator economy, games and esports, live streaming, social commerce, and online wagering. GFR Fund offers its portfolio global business opportunities in the Asian market combined with deep connections in Silicon Valley.

About GFR Fund
The GFR Fund is a venture capital fund that works with strategic investors to give early-stage technology companies the opportunity to accelerate growth in the digital entertainment sector. GFR Fund is an affiliate of GREE, Inc., a global leader in the mobile gaming industry. To date, GFR Fund has invested in 47 companies, including ProGuides, RTFKT, Fan.AI, VRChat, WaveXR, Theta.tv, Littlstar, Fable, YBVR, Sturfee, Resolve, Samba.tv, Apprentice.io and Phiar. For more information, visit www.gfrfund.com.