Animoca Brands has Plans to Raise $1B in Q1, 2023
- Animoca Brands has planned to raise nearly $1 billion in the first quarter of this year despite the prevailing crypto winter.
- The Hong Kong-based gaming giant hopes to expand on its Web3 initiatives by funding blockchain and Metaverse startups.
- At the end of 2022, the company, in partnership with former Morgan Stanley exec Homer Sun, vowed to launch a $2 billion fund.
Renowned blockchain gaming platform Animoca Brands has plans to raise nearly $1 billion in the first quarter of this year, intensifying efforts to strengthen its Web3 and metaverse investment fund.
With a $1 billion fundraising effort, the Hong Kong-based gaming giant hopes to expand on its Web3 initiatives by funding blockchain and metaverse startups. Yat Siu, Chairman and Co-Founder, recently stated that the company expects to finish the fundraising during the first quarter of 2023:
“Q1 is the goal, and then let’s see what happens.” It is fair to say it’s a challenging market. But we have quite a bit of interest.”
Notably, the initiative comes at a time when the whole cryptocurrency industry is suffering from a massive winter season, which has vanished much of the interest in the sector. Moreover, the early November’s collapse of once-leading crypto exchange platform FTX has negatively affected Animoca’s multiple portfolio firms.
At the end of 2022, the company, in partnership with former Morgan Stanley exec Homer Sun, vowed to launch a $2 billion fund, called Animoca Capital, to invest in its Metaverse efforts across the world. Commenting on the move, Siu stated:
“The long-term goal for us, and frankly for myself, is creating a way where we all have digital property rights. I’m hoping that this will also drive a scenario where the digital property will be recognized like physical property in the legal system.”
Siu recently noted that with FTX’s demise, fundraising has become more challenging, but he also acknowledged that some of his company’s subsidiaries still raise funds.
The Chairman stated that following Temasek’s $100 million investment last year, Animoca, which has stakes in more than 380 firms, has no plans for personal funding rounds. The company’s main objective will be to create an ecosystem of cryptocurrency companies that collaborate to advance Web3.
Animoca Brands, which is working hard to fight against the prolonged bear market, has carried out several funding rounds in the past year. Earlier in 2022, the entity completed a $360 million funding round. Moreover, in July, it secured another $75 million in funding with the aim to hire more people, upgrade its products, and obtain licenses for intellectual property.
Notably, in August last year, Animoca Brands KK, Animoca’s Japanese subsidiary, also raised $45 million, contributing to the organization’s solid presence in the region.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
