Animoca Brands confirms $110 million funding deal with Temasek, Boyu and CGV

Game software and venture capital company Animoca Brands confirmed on Thursday that it has clinched a $110 million funding round, backed by Temasek, Boyu Capital and GGV Capital.

The raise comes in the form of a convertible note issuance, which may or may not be converted into equity at a later date. This fundraising method is sometimes used in the event that a company does not want to dilute its own shares, or was unable to raise equity capital.

Animoca said the notes have a maturity date of three years from the date of issuance and may be converted at any time prior to that date at the election of the note holder. 

«Animoca Brands has grown significantly as a company in the last year, and our new investors will contribute strategic advice and perspective as we build the world’s leading company furthering digital property rights in the web3 industry,” Yat Siu, Animoca’s co-founder and executive chairman, said in a statement. 

Animoca said it will use the new capital to continue to fund strategic acquisitions, investments, and product development, secure licenses for popular intellectual properties and advance the «open metaverse,» including through its efforts to promote digital property rights for online users.

Earlier reports, first published by Bloomberg, had put the deal’s value at $100 million.

The round adds to an earlier fundraise announced in January, in which Animoca raised $359 million. It also topped that up with a fundraise of $75 million in July — a move which brought its valuation to almost $6 billion. 

Investors in the firm’s July round included Liberty City Ventures, Kingsway Capital, Alpha Wave Ventures, 10T, SG Spring Limited Partnership Fund, Generation Highway Ltd and Cosmic Summit Investments Limited. Liberty City Ventures had led the round in January.

Animoca Brands has proved itself a heavyweight of the crypto gaming and NFT sector, having already invested in more than 150 NFT and metaverse-related companies, including OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Yield Guild Games and Axie Infinity.

The latest $100 million in backing brings Animoca Brands’ total funding to date to over $600 million. Its subsidiary, The Sandbox, has also separately raised $93 million recently.

Source