By
Temitope Olatunji
May 9th, 2024
Temasek has always been actively investing in the crypto industry. The company is focused on backing crypto-related companies despite the recent crypto crash.
Singaporean state investment company Temasek Holdings is reportedly leading a $100 million funding for venture capital company Animoca Brands. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that Temasek would complete the financial commitment with Animoca Brands through convertible bonds. Some companies adopt investment via convertible bonds in situations where they prefer not to dilute their shares or are unable to raise equity capital.
News of Temasek Holdings’ investment in Animoca Brands came shortly after Animoca Brands Japan got $45 million from Japan’s largest bank MUFG. Last week, the financial institution committed to the company to help it expand its Wed3 footprint in the country. The latest $100 million will be an addition to an earlier round announced in January. Animoca secured $359 million at the time, which moved the company’s valuation to more than $5 billion. Liberty City Venture led the round, with participation fr Soros Fund Management, Sequoia China, and many more. The Winklevoss venture capital company also contributed to the financing round. After the January financing round, Animoca Brands said it would use the funds to further its acquisitions, investments, and support of its gaming products.
Furthermore, Animoca Brands also gathered $75 million in a round held in July. The contribution was the second part of the January round, and it pushed the company’s worth to nearly $6 billion. Led by Liberty City Ventures, other contributors were Kingsway Capital, Cosmic Summit Investments Limited, Generation Highway Ltd, and more. Emil Woods, a managing partner of one of the supporting companies, Liberty City Ventures, said, “over the decades, humanity will discover and embrace the game-changing power that blockchain-based digital ownership of assets will bring to countless aspects of daily life.”
Temasek Financially Commits to Animoca Brands, Amber Group, and More
Animoca Brands is continually positioning itself at the center of crypto, metaverse, and the entire Web3 space. As part of its push into Web3, the company has invested in over 150 NFT and metaverse-related companies such as OpenSea, Yield Guild Games, Dapper Labs, and Axie Infinity.
On the other hand, Temasek has always been actively investing in the crypto industry. The company is focused on backing crypto-related companies despite the recent crypto crash that saw Bitcoin drop below $20,000. Before its financial commitment to Animoca Brands, Temasek led a $200 million funding round for Amber Group. The investment company also supported a $2000 million Series C funding for Australian NFT startup Immutable.
Apart from the Temasek investment into Animoca Brands, more venture capitalists are also jumping into Web3. For one, investors see gaming as a primary channel to enter the crypto industry. Studies revealed that the market would grow further as the metaverse continually explodes. The industry is expected to spike from $63.8 million in 2021 to about $1.6 billion by 2030.