The Sandbox Parent Animoca Brands Raises $359M to Build Out Open Metaverse

The new funding round increases Animoca’s valuation to $5.4 billion, the company said

article-image

Source: Animoca Brands

share

key takeaways

  • “We have set ourselves the ambitious goals of building an open Web3 and facilitating an open metaverse that expands financial inclusion,” Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands said in a statement
  • The company is an active investor in over 150 NFT and metaverse-related companies, including OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Yield Guild Games, Star Atlas, Axie Infinity, Thetan Arena, and others

The Sandbox parent company Animoca Brands has raised $358,888,888, to build out the open metaverse and enable individual digital ownership, the company announced on Tuesday. 

This funding round gives it a pre-money valuation of over $5 billion, the company said. The money will be used to continue funding strategic acquisitions and investments, as well as product development and licenses for intellectual properties.

The round was led by Liberty City Ventures and included other investors like 10T Holdings, C Ventures, ParaFi Capital, Sequoia China, Stable Asset Management, Soros Fund Management and Winklevoss Capital, among others.

In 2021, Animoca Brands raised $216.28 million to build out the open metaverse by bringing digital property rights to online users through the use of blockchain and NFTs and The Sandbox closed a funding round for $93 million in November 2021, the company said.

“We have set ourselves the ambitious goals of building an open Web3 and facilitating an open metaverse that expands financial inclusion,” Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands said in a statement. 

While there was tremendous growth in this space last year, “we believe we are still at the initial stages of a new Internet revolution, and there are tremendous opportunities ahead of us in 2022 and beyond,” Siu said. 

The company is an active investor in over 150 NFT and metaverse-related companies, including OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Yield Guild Games, Star Atlas, Axie Infinity, Thetan Arena, and others. 

Most recently, Animoca Brands participated in Metaplex Foundation’s $46 million funding round on Tuesday and separately led an $8 million Series A for Burnt Finance on Monday, a new NFT auction protocol built on Solana’s blockchain, Blockworks previously reported. 

“These technologies enable the true digital ownership of users’ virtual assets and data, and make possible various DeFi and GameFi opportunities,” the company wrote. Through elements like play-to-earn, asset interoperability and open frameworks, there can be greater equitability for all participants in the space, Animoca Brands noted. 

The precise valuation of Animoca Brands, based on share price and shares on issue prior to the capital raise, is $5.4 billion, or A$7.6B, at current exchange rates. The raise included a subscription price of $3.23, or A$4.50, per share for a total of 111,173,515 new shares. 

The company was not available for additional comment requested by Blockworks on Tuesday.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (2).png

Research

We’re bullish on the PUMP token. We believe Pump.fun's brand strength, existing integrations, product roadmap, and strategic levers justify PUMP's TGE valuation, and expect the token to re-rate meaningfully higher in the months ahead.

article-image

Big blockers wasted a bitcoin fortune trying to prove a point

article-image

Coinbase’s newest acquisition includes the CEO and Head of Research from Opyn

article-image

Crypto’s highest purpose might be to make markets better by making them bigger

article-image

The non-profit’s “Project Open” seeks to let stocks trade directly on Solana

article-image

The acquisition is Pump.fun’s first, and comes just days before its planned ICO

article-image

As Trump’s tariff war reignites, everyone is assuming the dollar will continue its path lower. But the journey might be bumpy