Former Sega CEO Mike Hayes heading up new game VC fund

Former CEO of Sega of Europe and Sega of America Mike Hayes has revealed his next move -- he is to head up a new venture capital fund that will focus on providing investment opportunities for video game studios and other digital media companies. Hayes left Sega last year, having previously held roles as marketing director at Nintendo, where he was in charge of the Game Boy and SNES launches, and later Codemasters. The new division at venture capital firm Mercia Fund Management said that it is mainly looking for young, innovative start-ups with highly scalable business models and modest investment requirements. To qualify for the investment fund, game companies must be less than two years old, fewer than 25 employees in size, and have gross assets of less than £200,000 ($318,300).