Animoca Brands

Short description: Video game company

Animoca Brands Corporation LtdType| Limited company

|

Industry| Video games, venture capital, blockchain
Founded| 2014[1]
Founders| Yat Siu, David Kim
Headquarters|

Cyberport, Telegraph Bay

Hong Kong

Key people

| Yat Siu (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman), Evan Auyang (President), Robby Yung (CEO)
Products| The Sandbox, Power Rangers, Projection, 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.animocabrands.com

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]

Animoca Brands was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange from 23 January 2015 to 9 March 2020.[5][6]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Notable properties
* 3 Acquisitions and partnerships
* 3.1 Acquisitions
* 3.2 Portfolio investments
* 3.3 Partnerships
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## History

File:2022 - Auto-Tech & TalkRobot LS7 1675 (52476255662).jpgRobby Yung, CEO of Animoca Brands File:Animoca investments 12 2021 big.pngInvestments

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

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

### Acquisitions

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

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

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

1. ↑ "Animoca Brands: Revolutionizing the branded mobile gaming industry". https://thesiliconreview.com/magazines/animoca-brands-revolutionizing-the-branded-mobile-gaming-industry.
2. ↑ "Animoca Brands investor update for the period ended on 31 December 2022". animocabrands.com. https://www.animocabrands.com/animoca-brands-investor-update-for-the-period-ended-on-31-december-2022.
3. ↑ "Blockchain Projects | Animoca Brands". https://www.animocabrands.com/blockchain-projects.
4. ↑ "Animoca Brands' Yat Siu: The big picture view of blockchain games" (in en-US). 2022-04-28. https://venturebeat.com/games/animoca-brands-yat-siu-the-big-picture-view-of-blockchain-games/.
5. ↑ "Hong Kong-based mobile gaming company Animoca Brands to list on the Australian stock market (ASX)". EntrepreneurHK. 2015-01-28. http://entrepreneurhk.org/hk-based-animoca-brands-listed-on-australian-securities-exchange/.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Newell, Elisha (10 March 2020). "Animoca Brands (ASX:AB1) delisted from ASX". The Market Herald. https://themarketherald.com.au/animoca-brands-asxab1-delisted-from-asx-2020-03-10/.
7. ↑ "Mobile Games Publisher Animoca Raises Funding From Intel, IDG-Accel". Techcrunch. 15 November 2011. https://techcrunch.com/2011/11/15/mobile-games-publisher-animoca-raises-funding-from-intel-idg-accel/.
8. ↑ "Animoca Brands Revolutionizing the branded mobile gaming industry". The Silicon Review. https://thesiliconreview.com/magazines/animoca-brands-revolutionizing-the-branded-mobile-gaming-industry/.
9. ↑ Karinja, Filip (2018-04-30). "Animoca Brands records multimillion-dollar revenue stream from Crazy Kings franchise" (in en-US). https://smallcaps.com.au/animoca-brands-revenue-stream-crazy-kings-franchise/.
10. ↑ Lee, Zinnia. "Fitness Metaverse: This Tech Company Trades Sweat For Crypto And NFTs" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/zinnialee/2022/04/27/fitness-metaverse-this-tech-company-trades-sweat-for-crypto-and-nfts/.
11. ↑ Tharun, George (15 August 2018). "Animoca Brands secures investment from renowned Asian financial powerhouse". Proactive. http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/202919/animoca-brands-secures-investment-from-renowned-asian-financial-powerhouse-202919.html.
12. ↑ Abudheen K, Sainul (18 December 2017). "Animoca Brands to invest US$766K in Artificial Intelligence accelerator Zeroth.ai". e27. https://e27.co/animoca-brands-invest-us766k-artificial-intelligence-accelerator-zeroth-ai-20171218/.
13. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (2019-05-22). "Animoca Brands raises $2.5 million for The Sandbox blockchain gaming platform" (in en-US). VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2019/05/22/animoca-brands-raises-2-5-million-for-the-sandbox-blockchain-gaming-platform/.
14. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (19 March 2020). "The Sandbox raises $2 million more to build out blockchain-based game world". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/19/the-sandbox-raises-2-million-more-to-build-out-blockchain-based-game-world/.
15. ↑ Sharma, Deepak (26 August 2021). "Animoca Brands to list REVV token on OKEx". Proactive. https://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/958671/animoca-brands-to-list-revv-token-on-okex-958671.html/.
16. ↑ Chan, Michelle (13 May 2021). "Hong Kong blockchain gaming group Animoca Brands claims unicorn status". Nikkei Asia. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Hong-Kong-blockchain-gaming-group-Animoca-claims-unicorn-status.
17. ↑ Sinclair, Sebastian (1 July 2021). "Animoca Completes Funding Round, Gets an Extra $50M From Coinbase, Samsung". Nasdaq. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/animoca-completes-funding-round-gets-an-extra-$50m-from-coinbase-samsung-2021-07-01.
18. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (13 May 2021). "Animoca Brands raises $88 million at $1 billion valuation to capitalize on game NFTs". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2021/05/13/animoca-brands-raises-88-million-at-1-billion-valuation-to-capitalize-on-game-nfts/.
19. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (20 October 2021). "Animoca Brands raises $65M at $2.2B valuation from Ubisoft and others". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2021/10/20/animoca-brands-raises-65m-at-2-2b-valuation-from-ubisoft-and-others/.
20. ↑ Macdonald, Anthony (20 October 2021). "ASX pariah Animoca Brands worth $2.9b, Sequoia China buys in". The Australian Financial Review. https://www.afr.com/street-talk/asx-pariah-animoca-brands-worth-2-9b-sequoia-china-buys-in-20211019-p591bi/.
21. ↑ Hu, Krystal (2 November 2021). "SoftBank leads $93 MLN investment in NFT gaming firm the Sandbox". Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/the-sandbox-funding-softbank-group/softbank-leads-93-mln-investment-in-nft-gaming-firm-the-sandbox-idUSL1N2RT02H.
22. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (2 December 2021). "Binance Smart Chain and Animoca Brands launch $200M investment program for blockchain games". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2021/12/02/binance-and-animoca-brands-launch-200m-fund-for-crypto-gaming-startups/.
23. ↑ "F1 Delta Time to cease operations; announces rewards for supporters". Medium (Press release). 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Plunkett, Luke (4 April 2022). "Official Formula 1 NFT Game Shuts Down, Tokens Are Now Practically Worthless" (in en-us). Kotaku. https://kotaku.com/f1-formula-1-one-delta-time-nft-crypto-cursed-shut-down-1848748953.
25. ↑ Lane, Rick (5 April 2022). "F1 Delta Time, one of the first major NFT games, has shut down" (in en). PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/f1-delta-time-one-of-the-first-major-nft-games-has-shut-down/.
26. ↑ "22-168MR Animoca Brands Corporation Limited convicted and fined for failing to lodge financial reports" (in en). https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2022-releases/22-168mr-animoca-brands-corporation-limited-convicted-and-fined-for-failing-to-lodge-financial-reports/.
27. ↑ "Animoca Brands Hits $5.9 Billion Valuation as Crypto Winter Deepens". https://www.forbes.com/sites/zinnialee/2022/07/12/animoca-brands-hits-59-billion-valuation-as-crypto-winter-deepens/.
28. ↑ "Temasek to Lead $100 Million Funding for Crypto Landlord Animoca". Bloomberg.com. August 30, 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-30/temasek-to-lead-100-million-funding-for-crypto-landlord-animoca#xj4y7vzkg.
29. ↑ "Animoca Brands Raises $110 Million from Temasek, GGV and Boyu Capital as It Mulls Possible IPO". https://www.forbes.com/sites/zinnialee/2022/09/09/animoca-brands-raises-110-million-from-temasek-ggv-and-boyu-capital-as-it-mulls-possible-ipo/.
30. ↑ Yong, Yimie (2022-10-19). "BEYOND Expo | Blockchain gaming company Animoca says Web3 space can overturn tech giants' dominance" (in en-US). https://technode.global/2022/10/19/beyond-expo-blockchain-gaming-company-animoca-says-web3-space-can-overturn-tech-giants-dominance/.
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Animoca Brands acquires Gamee to gain foothold in fast-growing web gaming segment" (in en). 2020-07-02. https://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/923263/animoca-brands-acquires-gamee-to-gain-foothold-in-fast-growing-web-gaming-segment-923263.html.
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Israel's TinyTap Acquired by Hong Kong's Animoca Brands for $39 Million" (in en-US). 2022-06-17. https://jewishbusinessnews.com/2022/06/17/israels-tinytap-acquired-by-hong-kongs-animoca-brands-for-50-million/.
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "Asura World". https://www.asuraworld.com/articles/Notre Game acquisition finalized by Animoca Brands.
34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 "Animoca Brands acquires Perth-based digital agency Be Media - AdNews" (in en). https://www.adnews.com.au/news/animoca-brands-acquires-perth-based-digital-agency-be-media.
35. ↑ Nelson, Jared (July 25, 2019). "'The Addams Family Mystery Mansion' is an Upcoming Mobile Game Based on the Upcoming Addams Family Animated Movie". TouchArcade. https://toucharcade.com/2019/07/25/the-addams-family-mystery-mansion/.
36. ↑ Tsagkarakis, George (August 7, 2020). "ATARI VCS to be The First Console to Support Blockchain Games". egamers.io. https://egamers.io/atari-vcs-to-be-the-first-console-to-support-blockchain-games.
37. ↑ "Care Bears Take On 'The Sandbox'". License Global. September 3, 2020. https://www.licenseglobal.com/video-games/care-bears-take-sandbox.
38. ↑ "Fan Controlled Football raises $40M for spectator-controlled football games". January 12, 2022. https://venturebeat.com/2022/01/12/fan-controlled-football-raises-40m-for-specator-controlled-football-games/.
39. ↑ "Introducing Formula E: High Voltage". August 26, 2021. https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2021/august/introducing-formula-e-high-voltage.
40. ↑ "Animoca Brands team up with City and Melbourne City". https://www.mancity.com/news/club/animoca-partnership-announcement-63744137.
41. ↑ "Animoca Brands to develop MotoGP™ blockchain Manager game". MotoGP. https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2019/09/27/animoca-brands-to-develop-motogp-blockchain-manager-game/311015.
42. ↑ Hake, Mark (11 November 2021). "7 Interesting Metaverse Cryptos That Might Be Worthwhile Tokens". Nasdaq. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/7-interesting-metaverse-cryptos-that-might-be-worthwhile-tokens-2021-11-11.
43. ↑ George, Tharun (March 15, 2019). "Animoca Brands launches new mobile game based on Wonder Park film". Proactive Investors. https://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/216514/animoca-brands-launches-new-mobile-game-based-on-wonder-park-film-216514.html.
44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 "Animoca Brands buys Quidd for up to $8 million as it moves into blockchain collectibles" (in en-US). 2019-08-08. https://venturebeat.com/business/animoca-brands-buys-quidd-for-up-to-8-million-as-it-moves-into-blockchain-collectibles/.
45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 "Animoca Brands acquires Power Rangers game developer nWay for $7.69 million" (in en-US). 2019-12-16. https://venturebeat.com/business/animoca-brands-buys-power-rangers-game-developer-nway-for-7-69-million/.
46. ↑ Powell, John. "Animoca, nWay sign deal with WWE". Slam Wrestling. https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2020/07/15/animoca-nway-signs-deal-with-wwe/.
47. ↑ Cook, Oliver (29 March 2019). "Formula 1 blockchain game 'F1 Delta Time' in development by Animoca Brands". AYO.news. https://ayo.news/2019/03/29/formula-1-partners-with-blockchain-game-developer-animoca-brands/.
48. ↑ "ASX game developer Animoca Brands acquires Finland's TicBits for $5.4 million" (in en). 2016-07-04. https://www.afr.com/technology/asx-game-developer-animoca-brands-acquires-finlands-ticbits-for-54-million-20160630-gpv3xs.
49. ↑ "Animoca Brands acquires Sandbox game developer Pixowl for $4.875 million" (in en-US). 2018-08-27. https://venturebeat.com/games/animoca-brands-acquires-sandbox-game-developer-pixowl-for-4-875-million/.
50. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem" (in en-US). https://www.techinasia.com/sky-mavis-gets-1m.
51. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan. "Eden Games acquired by blockchain company" (in en). GamesIndustry.biz. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-04-12-eden-games-acquired-by-blockchain-company.
52. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem" (in en-US). https://www.techinasia.com/animoca-brands-buy-developer-motogp-racing-game.
53. ↑ "Building Trust in Web3: Insights from Yat Siu of Animoca Brands". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7UWsuMGMX0.
54. ↑ "Crypto Firm Animoca Locks in More Funding Even After KKR Backs off". Bloomberg.com. July 12, 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-12/crypto-firm-animoca-proceeds-with-funding-after-kkr-backs-off.
55. ↑ Finzer, Devin (9 November 2019). "Bringing on additional strategic investors to OpenSea". https://opensea.io/blog/announcements/bringing-on-additional-strategic-investors-to-opensea/.
56. ↑ Miller, John (29 Jan 2018). "Animoca Brands one of the ASX top performers in 2018". http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/190721/animoca-brands-one-of-the-asx-top-performers-in-2018-190721.html.
57. ↑ "MoviePass Completes Seed Financing Round Led by Animoca Brands (EXCLUSIVE)". January 12, 2023. https://variety.com/2023/film/news/moviepass-relaunch-seed-financing-round-animoca-brands-1235487164/.
58. ↑ Tchetvertakov, George (2020-07-15). "Animoca Brands to move from lockdown to smackdown via game deal with WWE" (in en-US). https://smallcaps.com.au/animoca-brands-lockdown-smackdown-via-game-deal-wwe/.
59. ↑ Report, Special (2023-05-11). "Animoca Brands continues Middle Eastern foray, teaming with gaming platform stc play" (in en-US). https://stockhead.com.au/cryptocurrency/animoca-brands-continues-middle-eastern-foray-teaming-with-gaming-platform-stc-play/.

## External links

* www.animocabrands.com

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