HK gaming group Animoca Brands bags US$65m funding amidst NFT and metaverse craze

Animoca Brands, the company driving digital property rights via NFTs and gaming to build the open metaverse, has closed a capital raise for US$65 million, conducted at a pre-money valuation of US$2.2 billion.   Animoca Brands brings digital property rights to online users, primarily for consumer video game players and the metaverse, through the use of blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). According to the company, these technologies enable the true digital ownership of users’ virtual assets and data, and offer various play-to-earn capabilities, asset interoperability, and DeFi/GameFi opportunities. 

Investors in the round included Liberty City Ventures, Ubisoft Entertainment, Sequoia China, Dragonfly Capital, Com2uS, Kingsway Capital, 10T Holdings, Token Bay Capital, Smile Group, Tess Ventures, MSA Capital, Octava Fund, Adit Ventures, Summer Capital, Sigitech Holdings, Black Anthem Ltd, Mirana Corp, and Justin Sun. 

The new capital will be used to fund strategic investments and acquisitions, product development, and licenses for popular intellectual properties.

The global video game market is estimated to generate US$175.8 billion in 2021 according to NewZoo. In the last few years, Animoca Brands has established itself as one of the world’s leading technology groups in blockchain and gaming by spearheading and innovating decentralised in-game rewards and monetisation in video games.  Earlier in the year, Animoca Brands raised US$138.88 million on the strength of its plan to deliver digital property rights via NFTs. 

Animoca Brands and subsidiaries offer a broad portfolio of game products, both centralised and decentralised, branded and original, 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 REVV Racing, F1 Delta Time, MotoGP Ignition, and Formula E: High Voltage in the REVV token ecosystem, as well as The Sandbox and its associated utility token SAND, and the GAMEE, TOWER, and LMT tokens. 

In addition to its product development and publishing businesses, Animoca Brands has a growing portfolio of more than 100 investments in some of the world’s most meaningful NFT-related companies, including OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Bitski, Star Atlas, and Axie Infinity. It also owns multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, and Lympo. In partnership with Brinc, Animoca Brands recently launched Launchpad Luna, an accelerator for global startups in the blockchain and NFT space. 

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “In 2018 we laid out a strategy based on our assessment that in the future digital property rights would revolutionise industries by expanding financial inclusion, and that this significant change would start with NFT adoption in games. That future is already here. With the backing of our new strategic investors, Animoca Brands will continue to advance blockchain in gaming - and beyond - to introduce billions of gamers and Internet users to true digital ownership.”

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