Temasek, Boyu, GGV back Hong Kong’s Animoca Brands
Hong Kong metaverse start-up Animoca Brands has raised USD 110m featuring Temasek Holdings, Boyu Capital, and GGV Capital. Funding since the start of 2021 now tops USD 630m.
Existing backers Mirae Asset Management and True Global Ventures also joined the round. True Global confirmed its contribution amounted to USD 17.2m across two funds.
The investors are acquiring convertible notes with a maturity date of three years and a conversion price of AUD 4.50 (USD 3.05). They will also be issued warrants worth a combined USD 55m that are subject to the same conversion price as the notes.
Animoca was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange from 2015 to 2020 and continues to report some figures in Australian dollars.
Animoca said the latest transaction represented approximately the same valuation as its prior funding round, which valued the company at USD 5.9bn in July based on Australian dollar exchange rates at the time.
That investment saw a group of mostly blockchain specialist VCs provide USD 75.3m, topping up a USD 359m round earlier this year at a pre-money valuation of USD 5bn. The company was worth USD 2.2bn as recently as last October.
Temasek, Boyu and GGV are expected to provide advice on building organisational capabilities as well as input on business and capital plans. These plans ultimately aim to develop Animoca as a digital property rights leader for the emerging metaverse, or web3, industry.
The proceeds will also be used to support product development, secure licenses for intellectual properties (IP), advance metaverse R&D related to digital property, and fund strategic acquisitions. Recent activity on this front includes the acquisition of Australian digital marketing agency Be Media and the launching of a blockchain accelerator program.
Animoca was founded in 2014 with a focus on mobile games and subscription products that feature gamification, blockchain, and artificial intelligence. Early game titles include The Sandbox, which is now being redeveloped as a virtual real estate and metaverse asset. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led a USD 93m Series B round for the new Sandbox platform last November.
The company’s gaming and metaverse interests hinge on the concept of true ownership of virtual items in virtual settings. Historically, virtual possessions, such as those bought by players in the context of a game, have not entailed the transfer of real value and ownership rights.
Animoca’s virtual IP and real estate businesses aim to cement virtual ownership rights through the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which, unlike cryptocurrencies, are designed to be individually distinct, one-of-a-kind assets.
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