Eight-division boxing champion and incoming senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquaio has acquired a “meaningful” stake in a Singapore-based mobile gaming and advertising business.
“We are especially honored to have Senator Manny Pacquiao believing and investing in our vision to build the fastest growing crowdsourcing community for gamers, developers and publishers alike,” GToken chief executive Kenneth Mark Yong said in a statement.
GToken, which was launched in December 2014 in Singapore, garnered strong partnerships and support from the booming mobile gaming community across the region.
The company, with over a million users across Southeast Asia, Taiwan and China, has rapidly grown throughout Asia and is currently valued at $60 million.
“As a world champion in professional sports and a fighter all my life, I know what it takes to succeed on the global scale,” Pacquiao, a world champion professional boxer, said.
“I’m confident that GToken has that special fighting spirit to be one of the strongest global players in the mobile gaming and advertising space and I’m proud to be part of the team,” he said.
Pacquiao has investments in hotel, water refilling station, gasoline station, merchandise store, among others.
Pacquiao declared a net worth of P1.6 billion in 2014, making him the only billionaire member of the 16th Congress. Pacquiao earned at least $100 million from his recent fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas.
GToken’s founding investors include Ivan Lee, a serial entrepreneur whose previous company was acquired for about SG$100 million.
Ivan is also the founder of Raging Bull, a private investment fund focused on technology. Another early investor, Eldee Tang, played a key role in the success of this deal.