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Press Release
Published May 13, 2021
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Animoca Brands raises $88,888,888 based on valuation of $1 billion

Date: May 13, 2021
Categories: Financial Technology
Keywords:


Animoca Brands, the company that is delivering digital property rights to gamers via NFTs, today announced that it has completed a capital raise of $88,888,888 (approximately AUD 113,500,000) at a price per share of AUD 1.10 based on a valuation of $1 billion (approximately AUD 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. Some of True Global Ventures (TGV) Fund 4 Plus Limited Partners had also invested in the round.

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 $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.”

“We are also very grateful for the participation of our early investors who participated in this round True Global Ventures Partners, Katherine Yip-Ribeiro and Moses Tsang for their continued support of the business in building up the NFT ecosystem. They are aligned with us in the vision that we would become a dominant force in not only the gaming/entertainment space, but also in the way we can change the way people live and work using blockchain and its derived technologies”, Yat Siu added.

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 $88,888,888 (approximately AUD 113,500,000) via the issue of 93.4 million new ordinary fully paid shares of Animoca Brands at a subscription price of AUD 1.10 per share. The raise was conducted based on a valuation of Animoca Brands of $1 billion (approximately AUD 1.28 billion).

Animoca Brands’ corporate advisor Simon Doherty of Taylor Collison and Everest Ventures Group advised on and assisted with this capital raise.

 

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker

Keywords:


Animoca Brands, the company that is delivering digital property rights to gamers via NFTs, today announced that it has completed a capital raise of $88,888,888 (approximately AUD 113,500,000) at a price per share of AUD 1.10 based on a valuation of $1 billion (approximately AUD 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. Some of True Global Ventures (TGV) Fund 4 Plus Limited Partners had also invested in the round.

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 $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.”

“We are also very grateful for the participation of our early investors who participated in this round True Global Ventures Partners, Katherine Yip-Ribeiro and Moses Tsang for their continued support of the business in building up the NFT ecosystem. They are aligned with us in the vision that we would become a dominant force in not only the gaming/entertainment space, but also in the way we can change the way people live and work using blockchain and its derived technologies”, Yat Siu added.

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 $88,888,888 (approximately AUD 113,500,000) via the issue of 93.4 million new ordinary fully paid shares of Animoca Brands at a subscription price of AUD 1.10 per share. The raise was conducted based on a valuation of Animoca Brands of $1 billion (approximately AUD 1.28 billion).

Animoca Brands’ corporate advisor Simon Doherty of Taylor Collison and Everest Ventures Group advised on and assisted with this capital raise.

 

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker

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