Animoca Brands Explained

Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd
Foundation:2014
Type:Limited company
Key People:Yat Siu (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman), Evan Auyang (President), Robby Yung (CEO)
Hq Location City:Cyberport, Telegraph Bay
Hq Location Country:Hong Kong
Founders:Yat Siu, David Kim
Industry:Video games, venture capital, blockchain
Products:The Sandbox,,, Crazy Kings, Crazy Defense Heroes, REVV Motorsport, Arc8, Phantom Galaxies, Life Beyond, Benji Bananas, Mocaverse
Revenue:923 M (2022)[1]
Subsid:The Sandbox,[2] 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

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.[3]

Animoca Brands was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange from 23 January 2015 to 9 March 2020.[4] [5]

History

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).[6] In 2014 Animoca Brands was spun out from Animoca, and the new entity listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in January 2015.

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.[7]

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.[8]

On 15 August 2018, Animoca Brands raised a $1 million investment from Sun Hung Kai and $0.5 million from strategic partner Lympo.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12]

On 9 March 2020, Animoca Brands delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange.

In September 2020, Animoca Brands launched the blockchain racing ERC-20 utility token "REVV" on Uniswap, which was subsequently listed on various other exchanges.[13]

In May 2021 Animoca Brands raised a first tranche of US$88,888,888[14] followed in July 2021 by the second tranche of US$50 million, both of which were based on valuation of US$1 billion.[15] [16] In October 2021 Animoca Brands raised $65 million at a valuation of $2.2 billion from Ubisoft, Sequoia Capital and others.[17] [18] In November 2021, SoftBank led a $93 million investment in Animoca Brands' The Sandbox.[19]

In December 2021, Binance and Animoca Brands launched a $200 million investment program to offer funding for blockchain games.[20]

On March 15, 2022, Animoca Brands announced it would shut down the F1 Delta Time game the next day.[21] [22] 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.[23]

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.[24]

In July 2022, Animoca Brands hit $5.9 billion valuation.[25] 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”.[26] [27] Animoca looks to go public in Hong Kong or Middle East in 2025.[28]

Notable properties

Notable projects and games include:

Phantom Galaxies, REVV Motorsport, Mocaverse, The Sandbox, GAMEE,[29] Benji Bananas, TinyTap,[30] Crazy Defense Heroes, nWay, Notre Game[31] (founded in 2016), Quidd, Animoca Brands Japan, Pixowl, and Be Media.[32]

Animoca Brands has also licensed games and applications for: The Addams Family,[33] Atari,[34] Care Bears,[35] Fan Controlled Football,[36] Formula E,[37] Manchester City FC,[38] MotoGP,[39] Snoop Dogg,[40] Wonder Park,[41] Marvel,[42] Power Rangers,[43] and the WWE.[44] Former licenses include Formula One.[45]

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.[46]

In August 2018, the company acquired Pixowl, developer of the video game The Sandbox, for $4.875 million.[47]

In August 2019, Animoca Brands acquired digital collectibles marketplace Quidd for $8 million. In November 2019, the company led a $1.5 million funding round for blockchain game developer Sky Mavis.[48] In December 2019, Animoca Brands acquired Power Rangers game developer nWay for $7.69 million.

In April 2022, Animoca Brands acquired the Lyon-based video game developer, Eden Games.[49] In September 2022, the company acquired MotoGP game developer WePlay Media.[50]

Also acquired:

Portfolio investments

Animoca Brands' has over 450 cryptocurrency as well as non-crypto-related holdings,[51] this include Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Yuga Labs, Colossal Biosciences, MoviePass[52] [53] and CryptoKitties.[54] [55]

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.[56]

Animoca Brands partnered with stc play in 2023 and expanded in the Middle East.[57]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Animoca Brands investor update for the period ended on 31 December 2022. animocabrands.com.
  2. Web site: Blockchain Projects | Animoca Brands .
  3. Web site: 2022-04-28 . Animoca Brands' Yat Siu: The big picture view of blockchain games . 2023-04-25 . VentureBeat . en-US.
  4. Web site: Hong Kong-based mobile gaming company Animoca Brands to list on the Australian stock market (ASX) . EntrepreneurHK . 2015-01-28 . December 3, 2021 . December 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211203074746/http://entrepreneurhk.org/hk-based-animoca-brands-listed-on-australian-securities-exchange/ . dead .
  5. News: Newell. Elisha . Animoca Brands (ASX:AB1) delisted from ASX . The Market Herald . 10 March 2020.
  6. News: . Mobile Games Publisher Animoca Raises Funding From Intel, IDG-Accel . Techcrunch . 15 November 2011 .
  7. Web site: Karinja . Filip . 2018-04-30 . Animoca Brands records multimillion-dollar revenue stream from Crazy Kings franchise . 2023-04-25 . Small Caps . en-US.
  8. Web site: Lee . Zinnia . Fitness Metaverse: This Tech Company Trades Sweat For Crypto And NFTs . 2022-05-18 . Forbes . en.
  9. News: Tharun. George . Animoca Brands secures investment from renowned Asian financial powerhouse . Proactive . 15 August 2018.
  10. News: Abudheen K . Sainul . Animoca Brands to invest US$766K in Artificial Intelligence accelerator Zeroth.ai . e27 . 18 December 2017.
  11. News: Takahashi. Dean . Animoca Brands raises $2.5 million for The Sandbox blockchain gaming platform. 2019-05-22. VentureBeat. en-US. 2021-12-05.
  12. News: Takahashi. Dean . The Sandbox raises $2 million more to build out blockchain-based game world . VentureBeat . 19 March 2020 . 2021-12-05.
  13. News: Sharma . Deepak . Animoca Brands to list REVV token on OKEx . Proactive . 26 August 2021.
  14. News: Chan . Michelle . Hong Kong blockchain gaming group Animoca Brands claims unicorn status . Nikkei Asia . 13 May 2021.
  15. News: Sinclair . Sebastian . Animoca Completes Funding Round, Gets an Extra $50M From Coinbase, Samsung . Nasdaq . 1 July 2021.
  16. News: Takahashi. Dean . Animoca Brands raises $88 million at $1 billion valuation to capitalize on game NFTs . VentureBeat . 13 May 2021.
  17. News: Takahashi. Dean . Animoca Brands raises $65M at $2.2B valuation from Ubisoft and others. VentureBeat. 20 October 2021.
  18. News: Macdonald . Anthony . ASX pariah Animoca Brands worth $2.9b, Sequoia China buys in . The Australian Financial Review . 20 October 2021.
  19. News: Hu . Krystal . SoftBank leads $93 MLN investment in NFT gaming firm the Sandbox. Reuters. 2 November 2021.
  20. News: Takahashi. Dean . Binance Smart Chain and Animoca Brands launch $200M investment program for blockchain games . VentureBeat . 2 December 2021.
  21. 2022-03-15 . F1 Delta Time to cease operations; announces rewards for supporters . 2022-03-21 . Medium . en.
  22. News: Plunkett . Luke . 4 April 2022 . Official Formula 1 NFT Game Shuts Down, Tokens Are Now Practically Worthless . en-us . Kotaku . 5 April 2022.
  23. News: Lane . Rick . F1 Delta Time, one of the first major NFT games, has shut down . 11 April 2022 . PC Gamer . 5 April 2022 . en.
  24. Web site: 22-168MR Animoca Brands Corporation Limited convicted and fined for failing to lodge financial reports . 2022-08-11 . asic.gov.au . en.
  25. Web site: Animoca Brands Hits $5.9 Billion Valuation as Crypto Winter Deepens . .
  26. News: Temasek to Lead $100 Million Funding for Crypto Landlord Animoca . Bloomberg.com . August 30, 2022 .
  27. Web site: Animoca Brands Raises $110 Million from Temasek, GGV and Boyu Capital as It Mulls Possible IPO . .
  28. Web site: Mishra . Parikshit . 2024-06-26 . Animoca Looks to Go Public in Hong Kong or Middle East in 2025: Report . 2024-07-10 . www.coindesk.com . en.
  29. Web site: 2020-07-02 . Animoca Brands acquires Gamee to gain foothold in fast-growing web gaming segment . Proactiveinvestors UK . en.
  30. Web site: 2022-06-17 . Israel's TinyTap Acquired by Hong Kong's Animoca Brands for $39 Million . en-US.
  31. Web site: Asura World . www.asuraworld.com.
  32. Web site: Animoca Brands acquires Perth-based digital agency Be Media - AdNews . www.adnews.com.au . en.
  33. Web site: Nelson . Jared . July 25, 2019 . 'The Addams Family Mystery Mansion' is an Upcoming Mobile Game Based on the Upcoming Addams Family Animated Movie . TouchArcade.
  34. Web site: Tsagkarakis . George . August 7, 2020 . ATARI VCS to be The First Console to Support Blockchain Games . egamers.io.
  35. Web site: September 3, 2020 . Care Bears Take On 'The Sandbox' . License Global.
  36. Web site: January 12, 2022 . Fan Controlled Football raises $40M for spectator-controlled football games .
  37. Web site: August 26, 2021 . Introducing Formula E: High Voltage .
  38. Web site: Animoca Brands team up with City and Melbourne City .
  39. Web site: Animoca Brands to develop MotoGP™ blockchain Manager game . MotoGP.
  40. News: Hake . Mark . 11 November 2021 . 7 Interesting Metaverse Cryptos That Might Be Worthwhile Tokens . Nasdaq .
  41. Web site: George . Tharun . March 15, 2019 . Animoca Brands launches new mobile game based on Wonder Park film . Proactive Investors.
  42. Web site: 2019-08-08 . Animoca Brands buys Quidd for up to $8 million as it moves into blockchain collectibles . 2023-04-25 . VentureBeat . en-US.
  43. Web site: 2019-12-16 . Animoca Brands acquires Power Rangers game developer nWay for $7.69 million . 2023-04-25 . VentureBeat . en-US.
  44. Web site: Powell . John . Animoca, nWay sign deal with WWE . Slam Wrestling.
  45. News: Cook . Oliver . 29 March 2019 . Formula 1 blockchain game 'F1 Delta Time' in development by Animoca Brands . AYO.news .
  46. Web site: 2016-07-04 . ASX game developer Animoca Brands acquires Finland's TicBits for $5.4 million . 2023-04-25 . Australian Financial Review . en.
  47. Web site: 2018-08-27 . Animoca Brands acquires Sandbox game developer Pixowl for $4.875 million . 2023-04-25 . VentureBeat . en-US.
  48. Web site: Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem . 2023-04-25 . www.techinasia.com . en-US.
  49. News: Sinclair . Brendan . Eden Games acquired by blockchain company . en . . 2022-04-12.
  50. Web site: Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem . 2023-04-25 . www.techinasia.com . en-US.
  51. Web site: Building Trust in Web3: Insights from Yat Siu of Animoca Brands . .
  52. News: July 12, 2022 . Crypto Firm Animoca Locks in More Funding Even After KKR Backs off . Bloomberg.com .
  53. Web site: Finzer . Devin . 9 November 2019 . Bringing on additional strategic investors to OpenSea . 29 November 2021 . OpenSea .
  54. Web site: Miller . John . 29 Jan 2018 . Animoca Brands one of the ASX top performers in 2018 . 7 October 2018 . Proactive Investors.
  55. Web site: January 12, 2023 . MoviePass Completes Seed Financing Round Led by Animoca Brands (EXCLUSIVE) .
  56. Web site: Tchetvertakov . George . 2020-07-15 . Animoca Brands to move from lockdown to smackdown via game deal with WWE . 2023-04-25 . Small Caps . en-US.
  57. Web site: Report . Special . 2023-05-11 . Animoca Brands continues Middle Eastern foray, teaming with gaming platform stc play . 2023-06-26 . Stockhead . en-US.

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