Animoca Brands the company behind The Sandbox has raised $75 million in their latest round of funding. This is despite the continuing freefall of the crypto markets.
The new funding brings the company’s pre-money (the value of a company not including external funding or the latest round of funding) valuation to $5.9 Billion. Investors in the latest round include Liberty City Ventures, Kingsway Capital, SG Spring Limited Partnership, Generation Highway Ltd, Cosmic Summit Investments Limited and Alpha Wave ventures.
Animoca Brands is a Hongkong-based venture capital company with early investments in some of the shakers in Web3 development, including OpenSea, and Dapper Labs, counted among their over 340 investments in the space.
They are firmly established as one of the most prominent companies investing in blockchain and gaming technology through decentralization and in-game rewards.
What do Animoca brands own?
Animoca Brands is a big name in blockchain gaming development and has been acquiring new companies throughout 2022. The company bought a variety of subsidiaries, including such Web3 favorites as The Sandbox, GAMEE, Grease Monkey Games, Lympo, and Eden Games, to name a few.
What will they use the new capital for?
According to Animoca Brands’ press release, they will use the latest round of funding to;
‘Fund strategic acquisitions, investments, and product development secure licenses for popular intellectual properties, and advance the open metaverse including, through its efforts to promote digital property rights for online users”.
The company will invest the funds in creating an open Metaverse where all participants can prosper within a fair and open framework. To this end, they are investing in blockchain and NFT tech.
The PR goes on to state.
Animoca Brands is working to deliver true digital ownership of users’ virtual assets and data, enabling various DeFi and GameFi opportunities (including play-and-earn)and asset interoperability.”
What does the company say about the latest round of funding?
Obviously, the company are happy with this latest investment. With a focus on the emerging Metaverse, Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands stated,
“Digital property rights represent a society-defining generational shift that impacts everyone online and will set the stage for the emergence of the open metaverse.”
This investment ensures that Aminoca continues at the forefront of shaping it.
What the investors say
Investors at Liberty City Ventures see how the next decade’s blockchain-based digital assets and ownership will change everyday aspects of society. Emil Woods, managing partner, declared.
“We are proud to support Animoca Brands, a highly talented team of visionaries and builders at the forefront of this movement to embrace and fulfil the promise of Web3.”
Kingsway Capital understand how blockchain technology and decentralization are changing the face of the internet through blockchain-based digital ownership and the emergence of digital property rights. They know that there is no returning to Web2 “servitude”.
The founder and CEO of Kingsway Capital, Manuel Stotz states,
“The long-term growth trajectory of NFTs and similar ownership technology is extraordinarily steep, especially in emerging markets. We are thrilled to grow our continuing partnership with Animoca Brands.”
Afterthoughts
Animoca Brands raises $75 million. The announcement should be no surprise, as Animoca Brands consistently shows, that they have the pulse on new tech emerging to host the open Metaverse. The latest funding will help continue their innovations of the future.
