Animoca Brands Raises Additional $75.32M to Advance the Open Metaverse
Animoca Brands announced has announced on July 12, 2022, that it has completed a capital raise of $75.32 million, six months after the first tranche on January 18, 2022, where it raised $358,888,888 USD at a pre-money valuation of over $5B USD.
Advancing the Open Metaverse
Animoca Brands, the digital entertainment, gamification, and blockchain company, has raised more capital to support some of its future plans, including funding strategic acquisitions, investments, and product development; securing licenses for popular intellectual properties; and advancing the open metaverse.
This raise follows the first tranche of the funding process, which was extended from January 18, 2022, to allow due diligence to take its course. It is expected to support the company’s goal of promoting the digital property rights of online users.
Among the investors in this second part of the funding are Liberty City Ventures, Kingsway Capital, Alpha Wave Ventures, 10T, SG Spring Limited Partnership Fund, Generation Highway Ltd, and Cosmic Summit Investments Limited.
Since 2018, Animoca Brands has been vocal about its belief and interest in the new reality of digital ownership, and this is evident not just in its broad portfolio of over 340 investments and the products it has published and developed, but also in the many fundraising activities it has participated in.
Some Warmth in the Crypto Winter
It is evident that the bear market of 2022 has left many crypto investors and businesses uncertain about the health of the crypto ecosystem. However, despite the ongoing bloodbath in the price of bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins, Animoca Brands is one of the handfuls that has steadily appeared in some activities that give hope and warmth.
From its participation in the Seed Round of Blast Royale, the Private Round of bitsCrunch, the first tranche of its recent funding round, to its investment in the Kingdom Karnage game, and adding this second part of the fundraiser, the Animoca Brand journey in 2022 can be considered indicative of two things.
Firstly, it shows that the brand is laser-focused on being the leader in the metaverse and Web3 ecosystem. This conclusion is backed by the comment of the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, Yat Siu: “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.”
Secondly, it shows that investors are still enthusiastic and hopeful about the future of the blockchain and crypto industry. Emil Woods, managing partner of one of the investing bodies, Liberty City Ventures, supports this with his comment: “Over the next decade, humanity will discover and embrace the game-changing power that blockchain-based digital ownership of assets will bring to countless aspects of daily life.”
He also believes that Animoca Brands is at the forefront of fulfilling the promise of Web3.
The announcement revealed that Animoca Brands signed Subscription Agreements with knowledgeable and experienced investors to raise $75.32M USD (approximately $104.57M AUD). It raised this capital at a subscription price of $4.50 AUD per share, for a total of 23,237,058 new shares, and after this issuance, the company will have 1,836,142,334 fully paid ordinary shares in circulation.
