Animoca Brands Valuation Approaches Nearly $6 Billion After New Fundraiser (Report)

the BlockchainGaming platform Animoca Brands has reportedly raised $75 million in a funding round and its valuation has risen to $5.9 billion.

In spite of bear market does Animoca have a “long-term vision”

In January this year, the Hong Kong-based company secured a $360 million fundraiser led by Liberty City Ventures, Winklevoss Capital and Soros Fund Management. according to a cover According to Forbes, the company doubled down on its expansion plans by completing another $75 million in financing. Similar to January, Liberty City Ventures attended the event along with 10T Holdings and Kingsway Capital.

Animoca Brands pledged to use the funds to hire more employees, improve its products and obtain intellectual property licenses.

The company’s latest fundraiser comes at a time when crypto is in a state of decline. Most assets have lost a significant portion of their valuation, while many industry participants have laid off some of their employees or faced serious operational problems.

the DeFi-Platform Celsius for example, halted withdrawals, swaps, and inter-account transfers, citing “extreme market conditions.” Crypto lenders — BlockFi and Vauld — have also been badly hit, having to lay off some of their workforce. At a later date, several reports suggested that these companies could be acquired by other companies – FTX is close to buying BlockFi, while Nexo could buy Vauld.

Animoca co-founder and chairman – Yat Siu – said the ongoing macroeconomic situation appears challenging, “but at the same time, the current crypto climate has also provided some users with a better entry point into the open metaverse.”

“Obviously we have to be a little more cautious, but we have a long-term vision for this space and we’re both committed and patient,” he said, explaining the $75 million fundraiser.

In addition, the executive predicted that the market’s decline would not last forever and would recover in the next year or two. In his view, the crash will create tremendous opportunities for the development of the metaverse, just as the COVID-19 pandemic has “highlighted systemic issues in the physical world”:

“New businesses are emerging in the Metaverse that, despite recent market trends, are growing and providing more jobs and services that will help boost the virtual economy.”

Animoca’s expansion into Australia

Earlier this year, the Hong Kong-based company bought Australian digital asset agency – Be Media. Both parties later pledged to support each other and the Australian NFT– and to support Metaverse projects.

At the time, Siu said Australia offered “tremendous opportunities” and that the Be Media acquisition would allow his firm to immerse itself in this evolving ecosystem.

Animoca Brands has already invested in nearly 200 NFT-related projects, including The sandbox, Axe InfinityOpenSea, Yield Guild Games, Harmony and more.