By
Temitope Olatunji
May 9th, 2024
Animoca Brands said that it’s particularly focusing on firms that are building an open and blockchain-centric Metaverse.
Animoca Brands, a leading platform focused on investments in Web3, metaverse-centric startups, and NFTs announced raising $110 million in the latest funding. Institutional giants such as Temasek, Boyu Capital, and GGV Capital, led the investments in Animoca Brands. Existing investors like True Global Ventures and Mirae Asset Management also participated in the funding round.
Animoca Brands Funding Rounds
The Australian firm conducted the fundraising through the sale of convertible notes issued at a price of AUD $4.50. However, this is subject to conditions of future liquidation events, potential initial public offering (IPO), or equity financing.
Earlier this year in July 2022, Animoca Brands raised $75 million at a valuation of 45.9 billion. The company added that the recent sale of convertible notes values the firm “similarly to its previous funding round”.
Across several rounds of funding, the company has now raised a total of $775 million. This includes a major $359 million funding this year in January which pushed the company’s valuation to above $5 billion. Speaking about the recent development, Animoca Brands co-founder and Executive Chairman Yat Siu said:
“Animoca Brands has grown significantly as a company in the last year, and our new investors will contribute strategic advice and perspective as we build the world’s leading company furthering digital property rights in the Web3 industry”.
Investments by Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands said that it’s particularly focusing on firms that are building an open and blockchain-centric Metaverse. Chairman Yat Siu said that centralized firms such as Tencent and Facebook are a threat to an open Metaverse. Siu stated:
“I describe the age we’re living in as a kind of digital colonialism. The likes of Facebook are essentially the imperialists of our age, and they’re basically stealing our data. The biggest threat is not regulators. I think regulators are necessary to keep the space proper and everything is secure […] I think the threat is Facebook, and the threat is Tencent”.
Thus, he added that Animoca was “in a hurry” to build the infrastructure for an interoperable tech and counter the perceived risks. Animoca Brands has so far invested in more than 300 startups. This includes a number of NFT firms and Web 3 startups operating in the gaming space.
In addition, Animoca Brands has published its own games including the Ethereum-based Metaverse game The Sandbox. Besides, the company also acquired three game studios recently.