Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd. is a Hong Kong-based game software company and venture capital company co-founded in 2014 by Yat Siu and David Kim. The company initially focused on developing mobile games, then shifted to blockchain gaming and NFTs in 2018.[4]
| Company type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games, venture capital, blockchain |
| Founded | 2014[1] |
| Founders | Yat Siu, David Kim |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Yat Siu (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman), Evan Auyang (President), Robby Yung (CEO) |
| Products | The Sandbox, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, Projection: First Light, Crazy Kings, Crazy Defense Heroes, REVV Motorsport, Arc8, Phantom Galaxies, Life Beyond, Benji Bananas, Mocaverse |
| Revenue | 923 M (2022)[2] |
| Subsidiaries | The Sandbox,[3] Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Forj, Lympo, Animoca Brands Japan, Grease Monkey Games, Eden Games, Darewise Entertainment, Notre Game, TinyTap, Be Media, PIXELYNX, WePlay Media |
| Website | www |
Animoca Brands was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange from 23 January 2015 to 9 March 2020.[5][6]
History edit
On November 15, 2011, mobile games developer Animoca raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a Series A round led by Intel Capital and IDG-Accel (which tapped its China Growth Fund III).[7] In 2014 Animoca Brands was spun out from Animoca, and the new entity listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in January 2015.[8]
From January to March 2018, Animoca Brands started rolling out Crazy Kings and its sequel, Crazy Defense Heroes generating $2.8 million in revenue in the first three months worldwide.[9]
In March 2018, Animoca Brands launched OliveX, a fitness metaverse company building mobile games to gamify the fitness industry, which spun off from the company in August 2020.[10]
On 15 August 2018, Animoca Brands raised a $1 million investment from Sun Hung Kai and $0.5 million from strategic partner Lympo.[11] On 18 December 2018, Animoca Brands announced that it had completed a US$547,000 placement to institutional and sophisticated investors, a portion of which would be applied towards funding its investment in artificial intelligence accelerator Zeroth.ai.[12]
In May 2019, Animoca Brands raised $2.5 million to fund the development of a blockchain version of the video game The Sandbox, where players can build and monetize their gaming experiences using SAND, the platform’s utility token.[13] Then, in March 2019, Animoca Brands raised another $2.01 million in cash and cryptocurrency for The Sandbox from investors that included Square Enix, B Cryptos, and True Global Ventures.[14]
On 9 March 2020, Animoca Brands delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange.[6]
In September 2020, Animoca Brands launched the blockchain racing ERC-20 utility token "REVV" on Uniswap, which was subsequently listed on various other exchanges.[15]
In May 2021 Animoca Brands raised a first tranche of US$88,888,888[16] followed in July 2021 by the second tranche of US$50 million, both of which were based on valuation of US$1 billion.[17][18] In October 2021 Animoca Brands raised $65 million at a valuation of $2.2 billion from Ubisoft, Sequoia Capital and others.[19][20] In November 2021, SoftBank led a $93 million investment in Animoca Brands' The Sandbox.[21]
In December 2021, Binance and Animoca Brands launched a $200 million investment program to offer funding for blockchain games.[22]
On March 15, 2022, Animoca Brands announced it would shut down the F1 Delta Time game the next day.[23][24] The game had previously been lucrative, holding the record for the most expensive NFT of 2019 and with some transactions exceeding US$300,000. Sales within the game had flat-lined for the two years preceding the game's closure. The company announced plans to replace the game's non-functional NFTs with equivalent tokens for REVV Racing, a separate game which doesn't have Formula 1 branding.[24][25]
On 21 June 2022, Animoca Brands Corporation Limited was convicted on charges of failing to lodge annual and half-yearly financial reports with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.[26]
In July 2022, Animoca Brands hit $5.9 billion valuation.[27] In August 2022, Temasek with GGV Capital led a $110 million funding round for Animoca Brands at a $6 billion valuation to make it “pre-IPO ready”.[28][29][30]
Notable properties edit
Notable projects and games include:
Phantom Galaxies, REVV Motorsport, Mocaverse, The Sandbox, GAMEE,[31] Benji Bananas, TinyTap,[32] Crazy Defense Heroes, nWay, Notre Game[33] (founded in 2016), Quidd, Animoca Brands Japan, Pixowl, and Be Media.[34]
Animoca Brands has also licensed games and applications for: The Addams Family,[35] Atari,[36] Care Bears,[37] Fan Controlled Football,[38] Formula E,[39] Manchester City FC,[40] MotoGP,[41] Snoop Dogg,[42] Wonder Park,[43] Marvel,[44] Power Rangers,[45] and the WWE.[46] Former licenses include Formula One.[47][24]
Acquisitions and partnerships edit
Acquisitions edit
In July 2016, Animoca Brands acquired TicBits, developer of tower defense games Crazy Kings and Crazy Defense Heroes, for 5.4 million AUD.[48]
In August 2018, the company acquired Pixowl, developer of the video game The Sandbox, for $4.875 million.[49]
In August 2019, Animoca Brands acquired digital collectibles marketplace Quidd for $8 million.[44] In November 2019, the company led a $1.5 million funding round for blockchain game developer Sky Mavis.[50] In December 2019, Animoca Brands acquired Power Rangers game developer nWay for $7.69 million.[45]
In April 2022, Animoca Brands acquired the Lyon-based video game developer, Eden Games.[51] In September 2022, the company acquired MotoGP game developer WePlay Media.[52]
Also acquired:
- Acquisition of TinyTap, June 2022.[32]
- Acquisition of Notre Game, June 2022.[33]
- Acquisition of BeMedia, April 2022.[34]
- Acquisition of Grease Monkey Games, February 2022.
- Acquisition of Eden Games, April 2022.
- Acquisition of Darewise, April 2022.
- Acquisition of Bondly, September 2021.[citation needed]
- Acquisition of Blowfish Studios, July 2021.[citation needed]
- Acquisition of GAMEE, July 2020.[31]
Portfolio investments edit
Animoca Brands' has over 450 cryptocurrency as well as non-crypto-related holdings,[53] this include Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Colossal Biosciences, MoviePass[54][55] and CryptoKitties.[56][57]
Partnerships edit
In July 2020, Animoca Brands, through subsidiary nWay, entered into a licensing agreement with WWE to develop a new mobile game on iOS and Android.[58]
Animoca Brands partnered with stc play in 2023 and expanded in the Middle East.[59]
References edit
- ^ "Animoca Brands: Revolutionizing the branded mobile gaming industry".
- ^ "Animoca Brands investor update for the period ended on 31 December 2022". animocabrands.com.
- ^ "Blockchain Projects | Animoca Brands".
- ^ "Animoca Brands' Yat Siu: The big picture view of blockchain games". VentureBeat. April 28, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ . EntrepreneurHK. January 28, 2015. Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
- ^ a b Newell, Elisha (March 10, 2020). "Animoca Brands (ASX:AB1) delisted from ASX". The Market Herald.
- ^ "Mobile Games Publisher Animoca Raises Funding From Intel, IDG-Accel". Techcrunch. November 15, 2011.
- ^ "Animoca Brands Revolutionizing the branded mobile gaming industry". The Silicon Review. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ^ Karinja, Filip (April 30, 2018). "Animoca Brands records multimillion-dollar revenue stream from Crazy Kings franchise". Small Caps. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ Lee, Zinnia. "Fitness Metaverse: This Tech Company Trades Sweat For Crypto And NFTs". Forbes. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
- ^ Tharun, George (August 15, 2018). "Animoca Brands secures investment from renowned Asian financial powerhouse". Proactive.
- ^ Abudheen K, Sainul (December 18, 2017). "Animoca Brands to invest US$766K in Artificial Intelligence accelerator Zeroth.ai". e27.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (May 22, 2019). "Animoca Brands raises $2.5 million for The Sandbox blockchain gaming platform". VentureBeat. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (March 19, 2020). "The Sandbox raises $2 million more to build out blockchain-based game world". VentureBeat. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ^ Sharma, Deepak (August 26, 2021). "Animoca Brands to list REVV token on OKEx". Proactive.
- ^ Chan, Michelle (May 13, 2021). "Hong Kong blockchain gaming group Animoca Brands claims unicorn status". Nikkei Asia.
- ^ Sinclair, Sebastian (July 1, 2021). "Animoca Completes Funding Round, Gets an Extra $50M From Coinbase, Samsung". Nasdaq.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (May 13, 2021). "Animoca Brands raises $88 million at $1 billion valuation to capitalize on game NFTs". VentureBeat.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (October 20, 2021). "Animoca Brands raises $65M at $2.2B valuation from Ubisoft and others". VentureBeat.
- ^ Macdonald, Anthony (October 20, 2021). "ASX pariah Animoca Brands worth $2.9b, Sequoia China buys in". The Australian Financial Review.
- ^ Hu, Krystal (November 2, 2021). "SoftBank leads $93 MLN investment in NFT gaming firm the Sandbox". Reuters.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (December 2, 2021). "Binance Smart Chain and Animoca Brands launch $200M investment program for blockchain games". VentureBeat.
- ^ "F1 Delta Time to cease operations; announces rewards for supporters". Medium (Press release). March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
- ^ a b c Plunkett, Luke (April 4, 2022). "Official Formula 1 NFT Game Shuts Down, Tokens Are Now Practically Worthless". Kotaku. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
- ^ Lane, Rick (April 5, 2022). "F1 Delta Time, one of the first major NFT games, has shut down". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
- ^ "22-168MR Animoca Brands Corporation Limited convicted and fined for failing to lodge financial reports". asic.gov.au. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ "Animoca Brands Hits $5.9 Billion Valuation as Crypto Winter Deepens". Forbes.
- ^ "Temasek to Lead $100 Million Funding for Crypto Landlord Animoca". Bloomberg.com. August 30, 2022.
- ^ "Animoca Brands Raises $110 Million from Temasek, GGV and Boyu Capital as It Mulls Possible IPO". Forbes.
- ^ Yong, Yimie (October 19, 2022). "BEYOND Expo | Blockchain gaming company Animoca says Web3 space can overturn tech giants' dominance". TechNode Global. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
- ^ a b "Animoca Brands acquires Gamee to gain foothold in fast-growing web gaming segment". Proactiveinvestors UK. July 2, 2020.
- ^ a b "Israel's TinyTap Acquired by Hong Kong's Animoca Brands for $39 Million". June 17, 2022.
- ^ a b "Asura World". www.asuraworld.com.
- ^ a b "Animoca Brands acquires Perth-based digital agency Be Media - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au.
- ^ Nelson, Jared (July 25, 2019). "'The Addams Family Mystery Mansion' is an Upcoming Mobile Game Based on the Upcoming Addams Family Animated Movie". TouchArcade.
- ^ Tsagkarakis, George (August 7, 2020). "ATARI VCS to be The First Console to Support Blockchain Games". egamers.io.
- ^ "Care Bears Take On 'The Sandbox'". License Global. September 3, 2020.
- ^ "Fan Controlled Football raises $40M for spectator-controlled football games". January 12, 2022.
- ^ "Introducing Formula E: High Voltage". August 26, 2021.
- ^ "Animoca Brands team up with City and Melbourne City".
- ^ "Animoca Brands to develop MotoGP™ blockchain Manager game". MotoGP.
- ^ Hake, Mark (November 11, 2021). "7 Interesting Metaverse Cryptos That Might Be Worthwhile Tokens". Nasdaq.
- ^ George, Tharun (March 15, 2019). "Animoca Brands launches new mobile game based on Wonder Park film". Proactive Investors.
- ^ a b "Animoca Brands buys Quidd for up to $8 million as it moves into blockchain collectibles". VentureBeat. August 8, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ a b "Animoca Brands acquires Power Rangers game developer nWay for $7.69 million". VentureBeat. December 16, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ Powell, John. "Animoca, nWay sign deal with WWE". Slam Wrestling.
- ^ Cook, Oliver (March 29, 2019). "Formula 1 blockchain game 'F1 Delta Time' in development by Animoca Brands". AYO.news.
- ^ "ASX game developer Animoca Brands acquires Finland's TicBits for $5.4 million". Australian Financial Review. July 4, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ "Animoca Brands acquires Sandbox game developer Pixowl for $4.875 million". VentureBeat. August 27, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ Sinclair, Brendan. "Eden Games acquired by blockchain company". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
- ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ "Building Trust in Web3: Insights from Yat Siu of Animoca Brands". YouTube.
- ^ "Crypto Firm Animoca Locks in More Funding Even After KKR Backs off". Bloomberg.com. July 12, 2022.
- ^ Finzer, Devin (November 9, 2019). "Bringing on additional strategic investors to OpenSea". OpenSea. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
- ^ Miller, John (January 29, 2018). "Animoca Brands one of the ASX top performers in 2018". Proactive Investors. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
- ^ "MoviePass Completes Seed Financing Round Led by Animoca Brands (EXCLUSIVE)". January 12, 2023.
- ^ Tchetvertakov, George (July 15, 2020). "Animoca Brands to move from lockdown to smackdown via game deal with WWE". Small Caps. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ Report, Special (May 11, 2023). "Animoca Brands continues Middle Eastern foray, teaming with gaming platform stc play". Stockhead. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
External links edit
- www
.animocabrands .com