Even after a $2 trillion market collapse, Singapore’s state investor Temasek Holdings Pte. is investing $100 million in Animoca Brands Corp., placing its money in one of the industry’s most successful investment firms.
According to the persons who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing personal matters, Temasek would oversee the funding using convertible bonds. Animoca initially disclosed financing round in January, when the Hong Kong business secured $359 million from investors including George Soros and the Winklevoss twins. They said that this round of investment is an addition to that round. Animoca raised an additional $75 million in the same round earlier this summer, valuing the company at $6 billion.
Temasek has stated that it prefers to support service providers in the area over making direct investments in cryptocurrencies. The state fund contributed $200 million to a $3 billion investment round for the cryptocurrency lender Amber Group in February. The reps for Animoca and Temasek declined to comment.
In less than five years, Animoca has transformed from a modest mobile game publisher to Asia’s largest blockchain investor by building a portfolio of over 340 financial, gaming, and social media firms. Building virtual worlds on the blockchain would enable co-founder Yat Siu to challenge the supremacy of Big Tech companies like Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp., bringing about the so-called Web3.
Most investors are in shock as a result of the crypto winter, which since November has destroyed $2 trillion in value of digital assets. According to PitchBook statistics, funding for businesses involved with digital currency decreased by 26% from the prior quarter and is expected to continue to decline this quarter.
According to Siu, Animoca is looking to purchase up interests in market participants and digital tokens by taking advantage of the current slowdown in the cryptocurrency market. Perhaps within the next two to three years, the company intends to go public. According to Siu, it will rely on how well the market receives its primary business of selling cryptocurrency tokens and collecting a percent of any subsequent transactions.
The capital raising for Animoca hasn’t gone well. According to a July report, prospective investors that opted to leave the company’s investment round after the market crash included the buyout firm KKR & Co.
