Jacquelyn Melinek

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 <li>In the metaverse, players can explore and fight in battles, mint non-fungible token monsters, mine for resources, embark on quests and tame wild creatures, among other things, the company said</li>
 <li>This fundraise adds to the validity of the evolving world of metaverse, which is often used to describe the future of the internet, where the physical and digital worlds join forces in a shared virtual space</li>
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DeHorizon Foundation, the team behind the metaverse concept DeHorizon, <a href="https://medium.com/@DeHorizon/dehorizon-foundation-to-launch-blockchain-based-mmo-rpg-metaverse-deverse-417fee7362fb" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> that it has closed an $8.5 million pre-Series A round led by Sfermion, Dragonfly Capital and Everest Ventures Group. 



A list of investors also participated in the round including Animoca Brands, Yield Guild Games, Mechanism Capital, Gumi Cryptos Capital, Infinity Venture Crypto, Akatsuki Inc, BitScale, Republic Realm, Youbi Capital, Bybit and others, according to <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/metaverse-game-dehorizon-closes-8-5m-pre-a-round-led-by-sfermion-dragonfly-capital-and-everest-ventures-group-301397635.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a press release</a>.



The new capital will help the company accelerate its DeVerse game development and grow the team, it said. DeVerse is DeHorizon’s upcoming blockchain-based game that provides massively multiplayer online games with role-playing opportunities, or MMORPG for short, in “a barbarous version of high fantasy action-adventure game,” it said.



In the metaverse-aimed game, DeVerse players can explore and fight in battles, mint non-fungible token monsters, mine for resources, embark on quests and tame wild creatures, among other things, the company said. 



This fundraise adds validity to the evolving world of the metaverse — often used to describe the future of the internet — where the physical and digital worlds join forces in a shared virtual space.



The concept of the metaverse has taken the crypto world and mainstream media by storm in recent months. Metaverse upstart companies like Axie Infinity have <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/axie-infinity-rolls-out-staking-program-shakes-up-gaming-business-model/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rolled out staking programs</a>, while established social media platforms like Facebook have also embraced the term; CEO <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/heres-why-one-company-ventured-into-the-metaverse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mark Zuckerberg said</a> Facebook will become a “metaverse company.” 



In the future, DeHorizon plans to develop more blockchain-based games and make additional partnerships with artists, celebrities and more to “make their metaverse come to life,” it said.&nbsp;