Animoca Brands to invest $2 billion in metaverses

The fund will focus on startups in the middle or late stage of development

30.11.2022 - 11:30

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2 min

What’s new? Animoca Brands, a developer and operator of blockchain games, has announced the launch of a $1 billion to $2 billion Animoca Capital fund aimed at investing in metaverses and Web 3.0. Co-founder Yat Siu made the announcement in an interview with Nikkei Asia.

News on the Nikkei website

What else is known about the initiative? The first investments in the fund are expected next year. It will be overseen by Siu and his partner. The co-founder of Animoca added that the geography of investment targets is not limited, and all the focus will be on digital property rights. He hopes that digital property will be further recognized in the legal system on par with physical property.

As one of the trailblazers of Web 3.0, Animoca has made about 380 investments, including investments in NFT platforms OpenSea and Dapper Labs. However, according to Siu, the main goal of these investments was not to make a profit but to develop the Web 3.0 ecosystem and create an active market. Now that the industry is more mature, a separate investment vehicle needs to be created to improve capital efficiency. The fund will create opportunities for investors to directly access investments in mid- to late-stage startups. This is different than investing in early-stage companies, where risk is much higher.

Animoca Brands was founded in 2014 in Hong Kong. Its portfolio includes games such as CryptoKitties, Power Rangers, Axie Infinity, Beast Quest, Pretty Pet Salon, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Star Girl, and F1 Delta Time, as well as The Sandbox metaverse.

In January, the company raised $358 million from Winklevoss Capital, Sequoia China, Gemini Frontier Fund, and others to further expand the company, including new partnerships and strategic investments. The key priorities include the creation of Web 3.0 and the development of an open metaverse. At the end of August, Animoca received $100 million from Temasek, Singapore’s state-owned holding company.

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