Firstpoint VC launches €50M fund to back AI gaming startups in emerging markets
What's the deal? Firstpoint VC, a newly launched venture capital firm, has announced a €50M fund targeting AI-driven gaming and entertainment startups across Türkiye, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia.
The fund is led by two general partners: Burak YılmazDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, former chief executive officer of WePlay VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — Türkiye's first gaming-focused fund — and Mike FischerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, who has held senior roles at Square EnixDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Epic GamesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Amazon, Bandai NamcoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, SEGADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Microsoft.
The fund's advisory board includes Jen MacleanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, former general manager at Microsoft's Xbox division; Luke DickenDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, former head of AI at Take-Two InteractiveDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →; and Bora KocyigitDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, former country manager at Riot GamesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The global gaming and entertainment market is currently valued at approximately $600B and is projected to reach $1 trillion within five years.
Why now? Firstpoint's thesis is rooted in the track record of Türkiye's gaming sector, which produced three unicorns — Peak GamesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Dream Games, and Loom Games — faster and with less capital than comparable startup ecosystems.
The fund's partners believe the structural conditions that made Türkiye a gaming powerhouse are now emerging elsewhere: Poland is an established centre for PC and console gaming, Vietnam is growing rapidly in mobile game downloads, and Central Asia is attracting digital investment on the back of its engineering talent base.
AI is accelerating the case for backing gaming startups in these markets. The cost of building and distributing games is falling as AI tools handle more of the production, marketing, and user acquisition work — lowering the barriers that once made it hard for startups in smaller markets to compete globally.
What could go wrong? A €50M fund is relatively small by global VC standards, which limits how much Firstpoint can deploy in any single company and may constrain its ability to follow on in later rounds alongside larger funds. Gaming is also a hit-driven business with notoriously unpredictable economics — even well-backed studios with strong teams regularly fail to find an audience.
The fund's geographic breadth is ambitious. Covering Türkiye, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia from a single fund requires deep local knowledge across very different regulatory, cultural, and market environments. Execution risk is high.
The signal: Firstpoint reflects a broader conviction among specialist investors that the next wave of globally relevant gaming companies will not come from the US or China, but from markets where talent is strong, costs are lower, and AI is levelling the playing field. The fund's founders bring genuine operational credibility — not just financial backgrounds — which is increasingly what early-stage gaming founders need.
The timing also reflects a structural shift in how games are made. As AI compresses development timelines and costs, smaller studios in emerging markets can now build and ship products at a speed and quality that previously required far larger teams and budgets.
Sources:
Firstpoint VC
Mobidictum
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Firstpoint VC
J.V.
