Makers Fund & Tyler Matheson - Research Document
Investment Thesis
Makers Fund is a global venture capital firm dedicated to backing the builders of the future of interactive entertainment. The fund invests across games, content, platforms, and ecosystem technologies, with a deep conviction that interactive entertainment is evolving rapidly and that visionary founders are driving this transformation. The firm partners with innovative, ambitious teams from inception through scale, providing not just capital but strategic guidance and access to an extensive global network of industry allies and partners.
Stage Focus
Makers Fund operates across all early-stage funding rounds with significant flexibility:
- Pre-Seed to Seed: Foundation-building investments with emerging teams
- Series A and Beyond: Growth and scale for portfolio companies with product-market fit
- Broad approach: Unlike many gaming VCs with narrow stage focus, Makers Fund backs teams from product inception through global scale
The fund supports founders across their entrepreneurial journey, emphasizing long-term partnership and operational support beyond capital deployment.
Check Size
Typical investment range: $500K - $40M
- Seed-stage checks typically range $1M-$5M
- Series A investments in the $3M-$15M range
- Growth-stage follow-on investments scaling to $20M+
This wide range allows Makers to participate in various funding rounds and company sizes, from indie studios to scaling platforms.
Fund Details
Fund III (Current): Closed at $500M in March 2022 Total AUM: Over $1 billion across multiple funds Location: Global presence in San Francisco, London, Tokyo, and Singapore Team: 11+ investment professionals plus venture partners and advisors
Investment Focus Areas
Makers Fund divides its portfolio across three strategic categories:
Content: Games, interactive media, and story-driven experiences
- Indie game studios to AAA-backed developers
- Story-driven games and narrative experiences (e.g., Hidden Door, Storygrounds)
- Mobile, console, and PC gaming
Ecosystem: Web3 gaming, monetization platforms, community tools
- Gaming infrastructure and tooling
- Streaming and esports (e.g., GGWP, Loco)
- Web3 gaming and blockchain integration
- Creator monetization (e.g., Whalo, Highlight)
Platform & Tools: Development infrastructure, AI-powered creation tools, distribution
- Game development tools (e.g., Modrinth, Mod.io)
- AI tools for game creation and spatial reasoning (e.g., General Intuition, PixAI)
- Publishing and distribution platforms
Lead Tendency
Makers Fund leads regularly while remaining flexible:
- Leads seed rounds for portfolio companies
- Co-leads Series A investments
- Participates in later-stage rounds for portfolio follow-ons
- Takes board seats in lead investments
- Partners closely with co-investors and ecosystem players
Recent activity shows consistent lead positions in early-stage rounds (Human Computer $5.7M seed led by Makers in March 2025, General Intuition $134M seed October 2025).
Recent Activity & Fund Status
Fund Status: Actively deploying Fund III capital Last Known Activity: January 15, 2026 (Midnite investment)
Recent Notable Investments (2025-2026):
- January 15, 2026: Midnite - Entertainment software
- October 16, 2025: General Intuition ($134M seed) - AI agents learning spatial reasoning from game footage
- July 7, 2025: BetaDwarf (with Square Enix) - Vaultbreakers developer
- May 21, 2025: VOYA Games/Craft World ($5M)
- May 1, 2025: Dream Games ($5bn valuation in CVC deal)
- March 13, 2025: Human Computer ($5.7M seed) - Story-driven games
Portfolio Scale: 100+ active companies with significant recent deployment activity
Notable Portfolio Exits
Makers Fund's portfolio demonstrates strength across exits and strategic acquisitions:
Acquired by Major Publishers/Platforms:
- FACEIT → Savvy Gaming Group
- Good Shepherd → Devolver Digital
- Loco → Redwood
- Parsec → Unity
- Unit 2 Games → Facebook Games
- Typhoon Studios → Google
- Two Hat Security → Microsoft
- Savage Game Studios → Sony
- Popcore → Zynga
Public Markets:
- TinyBuild → LSE AIM Market IPO
Other Notable Outcomes:
- SuperData → Nielsen (acquired)
- 40+ other successful outcomes and growth-stage companies
Team & Decision Making
Decision Process: Partnership approach with strong operational support
- Multiple investment partners review opportunities
- Founder-friendly culture with deep industry expertise
- Average decision timeline: 2-4 weeks for interested deals
Key Team Members:
- Jayson Chi (Founding Partner) - Long-time gaming VC leader
- Lia Zhang (Investor) - Gaming sector specialist
- Michael Cheung (Investor)
- Andrea Yang (Investor)
- Jay Chi (Investor)
- Curtis Urbanowicz (Investor)
- Andrew Willson (Investor)
- Alli Ottarsson (Investor)
- Jiang Li (Investor)
- Ryann Lai (Investor)
- Tyler Matheson (Principal) - Interactive media and applications focus
- Yoyo Yang (Investor)
- Yohei Ishii (Investor)
- Walter Paleari (Investor)
Venture Partners: Matthew Ball (esports/entertainment), Anna Sweet, Donovan Duncan
Advisors: Joost van Dreunen (gaming analyst), Greg Gunadi, and industry leaders
Geographic Focus
Primary: North America (SF Bay Area, Los Angeles) Secondary: Europe (London) Growth: Asia-Pacific (Tokyo, Singapore)
Actively seeks globally distributed teams and serves founders across all major gaming hubs.
Tyler Matheson - Principal Profile
Current Role: Principal at Makers Fund, focused on interactive media and applications investment
Background:
- Previously: Slide Monkey (Consultant/Strategy) at Deloitte
- Education: University of Southern California
- Location: Los Angeles area
Investment Thesis: Partnering with founders building the future of how we play, watch, create, and live
Current Portfolio Support: Human Computer, The Game Band, Modrinth, Treehouse Games, Storygrounds, Stoke Games, Cashmere AI, Riftweaver, Millions of Monsters
Tyler represents a new generation of gaming VCs who combine strategic consulting experience with deep passion for interactive entertainment. His focus on infrastructure tools (Modrinth), developer communities (The Game Band), and story-driven experiences reflects Makers Fund's evolution toward supporting the full ecosystem of game development.
Founder Preferences
Makers Fund backs:
- Passionate creators deeply committed to interactive entertainment
- Technical founders with shipped titles or proven experience
- Visionary teams willing to take creative risks
- Ambitious but measured founders with realistic roadmaps
- Industry veterans as much as first-time founders
Investment Approach & Values
Embracing the Industry: Passion for interactive entertainment drives desire for industry growth and innovation
Faith in Founders: The industry's past, present, and future is powered by visionaries. Makers provides capital, strategic guidance, and access to global network
Charging Forward Together: Deep knowledge, experience, and global network allow Makers to stay attuned to shifting landscape and support founders through uncertain times
Warm Introductions
Warm introductions recommended. Fund receives high volume of inbound and prioritizes introductions through existing portfolio, advisors, and ecosystem partners.
Research completed January 29, 2026 Data sources: Official website, team listings, portfolio data, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, news coverage, fund announcements Confidence: High across all major fields