NFT-centric Animoca Brands is tech industry’s newest unicorn
13 May 2021 — HONG KONG — Animoca Brands, the company that is delivering digital property rights to gamers via NFTs, today announced that it has completed a capital raise of US$88,888,888 (approximately A$113,500,000) at a price per share of A$1.10 based on a valuation of US$1 billion (approximately A$1.28 billion).
Investors in the round included Kingsway Capital, RIT Capital Partners (formerly Rothschild Investment Trust), HashKey Fintech Investment Fund, AppWorks Fund, LCV Fund, Huobi, Octava, Ellerston Capital, Perennial, Axia Infinity Ventures, SNZ, Liberty City Ventures, Metapurse, and other prominent investors.
The funding is a strategic milestone that positions Animoca Brands for further aggressive growth as it continues to bring digital property rights to video gamers through the use of blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), enabling powerful benefits such as play-to-earn capabilities and digital asset interoperability.
The new capital will also be utilized to fund further acquisitions, develop new products, continue to make strategic investments, and secure additional licenses for popular intellectual properties to cement Animoca Brands’ leadership and that of its various subsidiaries in the NFT and gaming spaces.
Following the success of its blockchain game titles including F1® Delta Time, The Sandbox, and MotoGP™ Ignition, as well as the launches of their associated tokens, including REVV and SAND, Animoca Brands has emerged as a leading force in the field of blockchain, NFTs, and games, having already made highly successful investments in Dapper Labs, Opensea, Bitski, Axie Infinity, and many others.
With the recent launch of the GAMEE, TOWER, and LMT tokens, Animoca Brands is trailblazing the use of blockchain-based in-game rewards, creating innovative new ways to monetize video games – a market estimated to be worth US$179.7 billion in 2020 (source: IDC, 2020).
To commemorate the achievement of its unicorn status, Animoca Brands is issuing an NFT to investors, key partners, and supporters who helped make this moment possible.
Management commentary
Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “We are deeply honoured to have secured Kingsway, RIT, Hashkey, Huobi, Ellerston, Perennial and other strategic investors who share our vision for NFTs redefining equity and property rights online. This strategic capital raise firmly establishes Animoca Brands as one of the leading and most valuable companies in the NFT space, not just in Asia but globally.”
Manuel Stotz, the founder and CEO of Kingsway, said: “Having spent nearly a decade investing in Emerging and Frontier Markets, we have first-hand experience of the power of disruptive technologies. The emergence of digital property rights, whether via Bitcoin or NFTs, is perhaps the greatest opportunity for financial inclusion for the bottom ~3 billion Frontier & Emerging Market consumers, as well as an opportunity for a more decentralised and thus more equitable global Internet. We are proud to support Yat and his talented team at Animoca Brands in making this vision a reality and are honoured to co-invest alongside such a world-class roster of global investors.”
Ashok Jacob, Ellerston Capital’s executive chairman and portfolio manager, said: “Yat can explain his vision succinctly and has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to execute. Through a combination of true ownership of digital assets and rewarding users for engaging in activity that increases the value of a network, web 3.0 promotes a much more equitable economic model and incentive structure for the Internet. Animoca Brands is at the forefront of ushering in this evolution that will lead to an explosion of the digital economy and more equitable flows of money and power on the net.”
Deng Chao, the CEO of HashKey Group, commented: “We always maintained that gaming would be one of the first massive adopters of blockchain, and Animoca Brands is definitely the top game changer in this field. As a blockchain-focused gaming company, it not only has a deep understanding of blockchain games and NFTs, but also strong development abilities in traditional games. With its many achievements and brands, Animoca Brands is redefining property rights for gamers and paving the way toward a new era for gaming. We are delighted to be an investor in Animoca Brands, and together we look forward to adding value to the blockchain gaming sector.”
Details of capital raise
Animoca Brands has entered into and completed Subscription Agreements with various institutional and professional investors (“Investors”) to raise a total of US$88,888,888 (approximately A$113,500,000) via the issue of 93.4 million new ordinary fully paid shares of Animoca Brands at a subscription price of A$1.10 per share. The raise was conducted based on a valuation of Animoca Brands of US$1 billion (approximately A$1.28 billion).
Animoca Brands’ corporate advisor Simon Doherty of Taylor Collison and Everest Ventures Group advised on and assisted with this capital raise.
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands, ranked in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2021, is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, gamification, and artificial intelligence. Animoca Brands develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including the REVV token and SAND token; original games including The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes; and products utilizing popular intellectual properties including Formula 1®, Marvel, WWE, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Doraemon. Its portfolio of blockchain investments and partnerships includes Sky Mavis (Axie Infinity), Dapper Labs (CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot), OpenSea, Harmony, Bitski, and Alien Worlds. Its subsidiaries include The Sandbox, Quidd, Gamee, nWay, Pixowl, and Lympo. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or get updates by following Animoca Brands on Facebook or Twitter.