In November 2022, the company announced that it was working on a new Animoca Capital fund with a $2 billion target, but then cut that target in half in January 2023.
Animoca Brands, a blockchain gaming technology developer based in Hong Kong, has reportedly reduced its target for its metaverse fund by 20% to $800 million, according to Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Due to the volatility in the cryptocurrency sector, the blockchain gaming technology company reportedly reduced its billion-dollar goal. The company previously announced in November 2022 that it was working on a new Animoca Capital fund with a $2 billion target, but then cut that target in half in January 2023 to $1 billion.
According to people familiar with the situation, the company has recently reduced its target by another 20% to $800 million. Reuters stated that its sources preferred not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
According to two sources, Animoca’s market capitalization, which was previously valued at around $6 billion following a Temasek-led financing round in July 2022, has dropped to below $2 billion, with its shares trading at a much lower valuation in secondary markets.
The lower fundraising goal and declining valuation indicate a shift in sentiment toward the crypto industry, as interest in such technologies has waned in the aftermath of scandals ranging from the collapse of FTX to the bankruptcy of several crypto lenders.
Animoca Brand was named the most funded metaverse developer by Nasdaq in 2022, with Animoca closing 15 metaverse deals and receiving over $564 million in funding.
As a major player in the metaverse industry, Animoca owns a majority stake in The Sandbox, a leading metaverse platform. Aside from this investment, the company has been actively involved in the development of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and GameFi. According to Yat Siu, one of Animoca’s co-founders, GameFi will be one of the primary gateways for the general public to access the metaverse.
