January 19, 2022
Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands, the company building open metaverse, has announced that the company has raised US$358,888,888 on a funding round led by Liberty Citi ventures.
Other investors including 10T Holdings, C Ventures, Delta Fund, Gemini Frontier Fund, Gobi Partners Greater Bay Area, Kingsway, L2 Capital, Mirae Asset, Pacific Century Group, ParaFi Capital, Provident, Senator Investment Group, Sequoia China, Smile Group, Stable Asset Management, Soros Fund Management, Wildcat Capital Management, Winklevoss Capital, and others.
“We have set ourselves the ambitious goals of building an open Web3 and facilitating an open metaverse that expands financial inclusion,” said Yat Siu, the executive chairman of Animoca Brands. “We believe we are still at the initial stages of a new Internet revolution, and there are tremendous opportunities ahead of us in 2022 and beyond.”
The new capital will be used to continue funding strategic acquisitions and investments, product development, and licenses for popular intellectual properties, according to a statement.
Animoca Brands is working to build the open metaverse by bringing digital property rights to online users through the use of blockchain and NFTs.
The global video game market was estimated to generate US$180.3 billion in 2021 while the metaverse market size is expected to grow to around US$829 billion by 2028.
Animoca Brands is “innovating decentralized in-game rewards and monetization in video games as it works to build the open metaverse,” the statement said.
Murtaza Akbar, managing partner at Liberty City Ventures, stated: “Animoca Brands is championing a more decentralized, open, fairer, and more inclusive future where everyone can truly own their digital goods and benefit from them accordingly.”
The company has been on a fund-raising spree.
During the course of 2021, Animoca Brands raised US$216.28 million to power its vision of digital property rights and the open metaverse, while its subsidiary The Sandbox completed a capital raise of US$93 million.
Animoca Brands and subsidiaries offer a broad portfolio of game products with coverage across most primary platforms including mobile devices, game consoles, PC, web, and blockchain. Products include games ranging from hyper-casual to hardcore, as well as collectibles, utility tokens, esports titles, and more.
Some of the company’s major blockchain game projects include The Sandbox and its associated utility token SAND, the upcoming Phantom Galaxies “AAA” blockchain third-person shooter, the REVV token ecosystem (REVV Racing, F1® Delta Time, MotoGP™ Ignition, and Formula E: High Voltage), the Arc8 platform and its GAMEE utility token, as well as the TOWER, LMT, BONDLY, and PROSPER token projects, among others.
In addition to its product development and publishing businesses, Animoca Brands is an active investor in more than 150 of the world’s most meaningful NFT and metaverse-related companies, including OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Yield Guild Games, Star Atlas, Axie Infinity, Thetan Arena, and many others.
Animoca Brands has various subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Lympo, and Bondly. In partnership with Brinc, Animoca Brands operates Launchpad Luna, an accelerator to foster startups in the blockchain and NFT space.
About the Author
Tsering Namgyal is the chief content officer of the Blockchain Asset Review
