Animoca Brands, with headquarters in Hong Kong, plans to launch a $1 billion Web3 and Metaverse investment fund.
During the first quarter of the year, the blockchain gaming company Animoca Brands plans to raise almost $1 billion for its most recent Web3 and Metaverse investment fund.
The initiative is being taken despite the fact that the FTX crash and market downturn have mostly killed off interest in cryptocurrencies.
With a $1 billion fundraising effort, the Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands hopes to expand on its Web3 initiatives by funding blockchain and Metaverse startups. Yat Siu, Chairman, and Co-Founder stated that the company aims 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.”
The company’s ambitions were announced about two months after the enormous FTX catastrophe. Several of Animoca’s portfolio companies were badly impacted by the crash.
By the end of 2022, the Hong Kong organization promised to launch a $2 billion fund (dubbed “Animoca Capital”) in collaboration with former Morgan Stanley executive Homer Sun to invest in Metaverse enterprises all over the world. Regarding the action, Siu said:
“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 said that fundraising has become very challenging since FTX failed, but he also said that some of his company’s subsidiaries are still raising money.
The Chairman stated that following Temasek’s $100 million investment last year, Animoca has no intentions for personal financing rounds. The company’s main objective will be to create an ecosystem of cryptocurrency companies that cooperate to promote Web3.
Value rises despite bear market
Throughout 2022, Animoca Brands held a number of fundraising events.
A $360 million fundraising round was completed over a year ago, and a $75 million round was completed in July. The business said that it will put the money toward expanding its workforce, acquiring intellectual property licensing, and improving its goods.
Animoca Brands KK, the company’s Japanese affiliate, raised $45 million in August to increase its footprint in the Land of the Rising Sun.
