Animoca Brands raises US$358,888,888 at over US$5B valuation to grow the open metaverse
Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2022 -- Animoca Brands, the company driving digital property rights via NFTs and gaming to build the open metaverse, today announced that it has completed a capital raise of US$358,888,888 (approximately A$500.3 million) at a pre-money valuation of over US$5 billion.
The round was led by Liberty City Ventures, with other investors including 10T Holdings, C Ventures, Delta Fund, Gemini Frontier Fund, Gobi Partners Greater Bay Area, Kingsway, L2 Capital, Mirae Asset, Pacific Century Group, ParaFi Capital, Provident, Senator Investment Group, Sequoia China, Smile Group, Stable Asset Management, Soros Fund Management, Wildcat Capital Management, Winklevoss Capital, and others.
The new capital will be used to continue funding strategic acquisitions and investments, product development, and licenses for popular intellectual properties.
Animoca Brands is working to build the open metaverse by bringing digital property rights to online users through the use of blockchain and NFTs; these technologies enable the true digital ownership of users’ virtual assets and data, and make possible various DeFi and GameFi opportunities (including play-to-earn), asset interoperability, and an open framework that can lead to greater equitability for all participants.
The global video game market was estimated to generate US$180.3 billion in 2021 (source: NewZoo), while the metaverse market size is expected to grow to around US$829 billion by 2028 (source: Emergen Research). 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 as it works to build the open metaverse (the most recent company presentation is available at https://www.animocabrands.com/investors).
During the course of 2021, Animoca Brands raised US$216.28 million to power its vision of digital property rights and the open metaverse (see announcements of 13 May, 1 July, and 20 October 2021), while its subsidiary The Sandbox completed a capital raise of US$93 million (see announcement of 2 November 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 The Sandbox and its associated utility token SAND, the upcoming Phantom Galaxies “AAA” blockchain third-person shooter, the REVV token ecosystem (REVV Racing, F1® Delta Time, MotoGP™ Ignition, and Formula E: High Voltage), the Arc8 platform and its GAMEE utility token, as well as the TOWER, LMT, BONDLY, and PROSPER token projects, among others.
In addition to its product development and publishing businesses, Animoca Brands is an active investor in more than 150 of the world’s most meaningful NFT and metaverse-related companies, including OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Yield Guild Games, Star Atlas, Axie Infinity, Thetan Arena, and many others.
Animoca Brands has various subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Lympo, and Bondly. In partnership with Brinc, Animoca Brands operates Launchpad Luna, an accelerator to foster startups in the blockchain and NFT space.
Management commentary
Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “We are pleased to see continued and growing support from influential and strategic investors for Animoca Brands’ mission to deliver true digital property rights and build the open metaverse. We have set ourselves the ambitious goals of building an open Web3 and facilitating an open metaverse that expands financial inclusion. In 2021 we saw tremendous growth in this space and Animoca Brands has been one of the forefront leaders in the development of this industry. We believe we are still at the initial stages of a new Internet revolution, and there are tremendous opportunities ahead of us in 2022 and beyond.”
Murtaza Akbar, managing partner at Liberty City Ventures, stated: "The trailblazing Animoca Brands is demonstrating to the world the game-changing characteristics of Web3 and the open metaverse. Animoca Brands is championing a more decentralized, open, fairer, and more inclusive future where everyone can truly own their digital goods and benefit from them accordingly. We are extremely proud to be working with Yat and his world-class team to build the future of asset ownership and management."
Harish Bahl, CEO and founder of Smile Group, said: "Smile is proud to partner with a visionary like Yat Siu and his team. We share his vision of Web3, where true digital property rights will unleash creativity, economic value and entrepreneurship, globally."
Manuel Stotz, founder and CEO of Kingsway Capital, commented: “The delivery of digital property rights might well be one of the most powerful ideas of the 21st century. What started 13 years ago with the launch of Bitcoin has proven to be the beginning of a new era in which digital ownership is embedded in the Internet, powered by decentralised blockchains. Gaming might well hold the key to mass adoption of blockchain technology, and Animoca Brands is perhaps the best positioned company in this space globally. In terms of emerging and frontier markets, where adoption is orders of magnitude faster than in the developed world, Animoca Brands has already had a tremendous impact on the way people live, play, and earn.”
Adrian Cheng, founder of C Ventures, said: “The virtual world offers endless new opportunities to empower the next generation. It provides them with platforms to create and innovate and learn more about the digital technologies that are transforming our present and future. My investment in Animoca Brands is reflective of my commitment to making the metaverse as widely accessible as possible and championing its potential. I am very proud to support Yat and the Animoca Brands team on their important mission.”
Tyler Winklevoss, founder of Winklevoss Capital and Gemini, commented: “Animoca Brands has built and developed leading brands in the decentralized gaming and metaverse space. We have tremendous conviction in its vision and are excited to support its mission.”
Details of raise
Animoca Brands has executed Subscription Agreements with various sophisticated and professional investors to raise a total of US$358,888,888 (approximately A$500.3 million) at a subscription price of A$4.50 per share, for a total of 111,173,515 new shares. Following this raise, Animoca Brands now has a total of 1,794,128,323 fully paid ordinary shares on issue.
Animoca Brands’ corporate advisor Everest Ventures Group advised on and assisted with this capital raise.
CORRECTION: this announcement has been updated to specify that the current capital raise was conducted at a pre-money valuation of over US$5 billion. The precise valuation of Animoca Brands, based on share price and shares on issue prior to the capital raise, is A$7,573,287,636 (approximately US$5,442,429,484 at current exchange rates).
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About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands, a Deloitte Tech Fast winner and ranked in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2021, is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification. It 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®, Disney, WWE, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Doraemon. Animoca Brands’ portfolio of blockchain investments includes over 150 of the most promising NFT-related companies and projects. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on Twitter or Facebook.
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