Animoca Brands eyes $2 billion new metaverse fund

Blockchain gaming group Animoca Brands plans to launch a fund of up to $2 billion to invest in metaverse startups in the mid and late stage, the company’s co-founder and CEO Yat Siu said. The fund aims to strategic investments in Web3 ecosystem development rather than pursuing financial returns.

Animoca Brands CEO, Yat Siu, said on Nov. 30 the company is working on setting up a fund of up to $2 billion to invest in metaverse businesses, NikkeiAsia reported.

Animoca Capital’s primary goal will be to invest strategically to develop a Web3 ecosystem and create an active market rather than pursuing economic returns. According to Siu, the fund would offer a good entry point for all Web3 companies. 

“For a lot of traditional investors, investing in growth stage to a late stage is safer. It’s very different from investing in a seed startup, which has much higher risk,” he said.

Siu said the newly emerging Web3 companies seek “exposure to mid-to-late-stage companies,” adding that the role of a fund is to offer this possibility. In his words, there is a need for another fund that can be used as an investment vehicle and pursue financial returns.

Concerning the nature of the projects, the fund would prioritize “everything on digital property rights” and won’t seek geographical limitations for investment decisions.

Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands is known for the Sandbox metaverse game that allows users to buy plots of digital land and decorate them using NFTs. The list of Animoca’s investors includes Singapore government-backed fund Temasek, GGV Capital of the US, and South Korea’s Mirae Asset Management. The company has a valuation of over $5 billion as of its latest fundraising.