Animoca Brands doubles valuation to $2.2B with new $65M funding round

Nonfungible token (NFT)-game and virtual property developer Animoca Brands has doubled its valuation to $2.2 billion after closing a new funding round that fetched $65 million.

The latest funding round was conducted at a pre-money valuation of $2.2 billion, and included backing from gaming giants Ubisoft Entertainment along with Liberty City Ventures, Sequoia China, Dragonfly Capital to name a few.

It’s more vindication for a company that was kicked off the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in March 2020, in part for its involvement in cryptocurrencies.

According to the Wednesday announcement from the firm, more than 43.8 million newly issued shares will be distributed to investors at a price of AUD $2 per share, or USD $1.51.

We have closed a capital raise for US$65 million conducted at a pre-money valuation of US$2.2 billion! Investors in the round included Ubisoft, Sequoia China, Dragonfly Capital, and more.https://t.co/Au7ioVycGy#fundraising #unicorn #OpenMetaverse #DigitalPropertyRights

— Animoca Brands (@animocabrands) October 20, 2021

Animoca has now raised a total of $203.88 million in 2021, with the firm becoming a crypto unicorn in June when it raised $138.88 million as part of two tranches of a capital raise at a valuation of $1 billion.

The brand-focused metaverse and interactive content company said the latest funding will go towards funding “strategic investments and acquisitions, product development, and licenses for popular intellectual properties.”

Animoca co-founder Yat Siu outlined the company’s vision around digital ownership and NFTs moving forward:

“In 2018, we laid out a strategy based on our assessment that in the future digital property rights would revolutionize industries by expanding financial inclusion and that this significant change would start with NFT adoption in games. That future is already here.”

“With the backing of our new strategic investors, Animoca Brands will continue to advance blockchain in gaming — and beyond — to introduce billions of gamers and Internet users to true digital ownership,” he added.

Related: NFT gaming proposition in question as regulators and traditional gaming pullback

This is another sign of big money pouring into NFT gaming and virtual property-focused firms.

On Tuesday, Galaxy Interactive, a venture capital firm focused on next-generation interactive technology, announced that it had raised $325 million from 70 different investors for its second fund focused on virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and NFT gaming.