Animoca Brands, the founder of The Sandbox behind the popular metaverse coin SAND, has received a million-dollar investment. Here are the details…
Huge investment in the Metaverse coin ecosystem
Animoca Brands KK, the Japanese unit of Hong Kong blockchain investment firm Animoca Brands, said Friday that it has raised US$45 million from the world’s second-largest financial group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and parent Animoca Brands. According to a press release, MUFG and Animoca Brands each invested $22.5 million, valuing Animoca Brands Japan at a preliminary valuation of $500 million.
Animoca Brands Japan said the new capital will be used to invest in popular intellectual property licenses, develop the company, promote NFT adoption and build a network for NFTs. In March 2022, MUFG and Animoca Brands KK announced a collaboration to develop the NFT ecosystem in Japan. Animoca Brands KK was founded in October 2021 and announced in February that it had raised 1.1 billion yen ($10 million) in the first round. Animoca Brands announced in July of this year that it has raised $75 million in its last funding round, raising the company’s valuation to $5.9 billion.
Background of Animoca Brands Japan
According to the publication, the Japanese subsidiary was established in 2021 to support the adoption of web3 among Japanese intellectual property (IP) and content owners. In February, Animoca Brands Japan completed a $10 million initial round from MCP IPX One Fund and Animoca Brands. Later in March, the subsidiary announced that it is considering a collaboration with MUFG for non-fungiable token (NFT)-related business opportunities.
MUFG is a leading financial firm headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It currently has 170,000 employees and operates in over 50 countries per release. MUFG’s shares are traded on the Tokyo, Nagoya and New York stock exchanges. The firm manages $3.1 trillion in assets. According to the publication, the new funds will be used to secure intellectual property licenses, promote web3 adoption and develop internal capabilities.
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