Animoca Brands raises additional US$ 75M to invest in blockchain games

Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming and venture studio Animoca Brands has closed a second funding round from January this year, giving the company additional US$ 75 million. 

Animoca Brands secured a US$ 360 million fund, led by Liberty City Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Soros Fund Management, ParaFi Capital, Sequoia China and 10T Holdings. The latest fundraise is the second tranche of the previous funding round in January, valued the company at $5.5 billion, doubling Animoca's value in less than three months.

Investors who backed the second tranche included Liberty City Ventures, Kingsway Capital, Alpha Wave Ventures, 10T, SG Spring Limited Partnership Fund, Generation Highway Ltd, Cosmic Summit Investments Limited, and others.

The blockchain game company announced it will use the funds to invest in strategic acquisitions, secure intellectual property licenses, and develop more games to advance its vision for the ‘open metaverse.’ 

Co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, Yat Siu explained that, ‘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. We are deeply honored to continue to enjoy strong support from investors as we work to solidify the leadership position of Animoca Brands in the Web3 industry and in the field of true digital ownership.’

The event occurred in the middle of an ongoing crypto market downturn, but Siu takes an optimistic stance, saying that ‘the current crypto climate has also enabled some users to gain a better entry point to the open Metaverse.’

‘New businesses are emerging in the Metaverse that are growing in defiance of the recent market trend, providing more employment and services that help to power the virtual economy,’ he added. 

Animoca Brands is currently one of the largest blockchain believers and boasts a growing portfolio of more than 340 investments including nearly 200 NFT-related projects: The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, OpenSea and more. In April 2022, it purchased a major stake in Australian digital marketing firm Be Media to expand partnerships with the local blockchain industry and collaborate on local NFT and Metaverse projects. 

Photo: Animoca Brands