Animoca Brands raises $65M at $2.2B valuation from Ubisoft, Sequoia China, Dragonfly Capital, others
20 October 2021 -- Melbourne, Australia -- Animoca Brands, the company driving digital property rights via NFTs and gaming to build the open metaverse, today announced that it has closed a capital raise for US$65 million (approximately A$87.7 million) conducted at a pre-money valuation of US$2.2 billion.
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.
Animoca Brands is bringing 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); 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.
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 (source: 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 decentralized in-game rewards and monetization in video games.
Earlier in the year, Animoca Brands raised $138.88 million on the strength of its plan to deliver digital property rights via NFTs (see announcement of 1 July 2021).
Animoca Brands and subsidiaries offer a broad portfolio of game products, both centralized and decentralized, 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.
Management commentary
Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “In 2018 we laid out a strategy based on our assessment that in the future digital property rights would revolutionize 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.”
Mia Deng, partner at Dragonfly Capital, said: “I believe that the gaming, art, and music industries are entering a digital renaissance period uniquely enabled by blockchain. Yat and his team have demonstrated vision and foresight from the beginning and we are therefore excited to partner with Animoca Brands to build some of the largest on-ramps of the virtual world.”
Joseph Chee, founder and chairman of Summer Capital, said: “I believe this transaction marks the acceleration of a new era! Animoca Brands is driving the practical applications of advanced blockchain technology and a new way of life. We are excited to be a part of Animoca Brands’ journey and future successes. Summer Capital will continue to invest in the blockchain space with strong conviction.”
A spokesperson for MSA Capital commented: “MSA has both invested in and tracked the evolution of social and gaming apps globally. We believe crypto not only provides novel in-game monetization but also precipitates new systems for digital rights, begetting NFTs and metaverses. Animoca Brands has been a pioneer in this burgeoning space and we believe this team has the right skill set and tools to usher in this new digital world.”
Lucy Gazmararian, founder and general partner of Token Bay Capital, said: “Animoca Brands is at the forefront of the blockchain gaming revolution, pioneering the next generation gaming experience where gaming, digital property rights and digital economies intersect to create new ecosystems which empower individual users like never before.”
Details of raise
Animoca Brands has executed Subscription Agreements with various institutional and professional investors to raise a total of US$65,000,000 (approximately A$87.7 million) at a subscription price of A$2.00 per share, for a total of 43,850,317 new shares.
Animoca Brands’ corporate advisor Everest Ventures Group advised on and assisted with this capital raise.
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About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands, ranked in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2021, is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification. Animoca Brands develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including the REVV token and SAND token; original games including The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes; and products utilizing popular intellectual properties including Formula 1®, Marvel, WWE, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Doraemon. Animoca Brands’ portfolio of blockchain investments includes over 100 of the most promising NFT-related companies and projects. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on Facebook or Twitter.
Global: press@animocabrands.com
North America:
Marla Kertzman Marla@thoroughbred-communications.com
