Cobalt Joins Animoca Brands in Their $75M Raise for Web3 and Metaverse Growth
While still early in adoption, digital assets and Web3 technologies are building for long-term scale. In order to find success, infrastructure, development, and technology needs to come together to enable a seamless user experience for consumers. Global crypto users reached 295M as of December 2021, growing 178% since January of that year, while unique addresses that used DeFi protocols reached ~4M as of December 2021, growing 243%. Metamask users represent 1% of Facebook, 9% of Twitter, and ~19% of Discord MAUs, having been found much later. NFT sales volume totaled ~$25B in 2021. This growth shows promise, but we are still in the early stages.
Within gaming, there were ~3.2B gamers across the world in 2021, with gamers accounting for 66% of the U.S population. Virtual currencies have been used in video games for decades and allows gamers to own their digital items (property rights) leading to a paradigm shift of opportunity unlocked. Although total crypto market cap and NFT sales volume are tracking much lower in volume than 2021, we believe Web3 will continue its growth, driven by adoption of digital assets, awareness of digital property rights, the rise of gaming via play-to-earn mechanics and tokenization of ownership of physical assets.
Cobalt is excited to be part of the Animoca Brands journey. Animoca has been an early adopter in Web3, investing broadly in the Web3 ecosystem and building a portfolio of over 300+ equity and token investments across blockchain gaming, NFTs, DeFi, infrastructure, wallets and metaverse, including OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Sky Mavis (Axie), Forte, ConsenSys and more. The company takes an ecosystem approach via M&A, venture, and strategic investments for the industry as a whole. Through M&A, Animoca Brands leverages target companies with strong brand licensing and collectibles, game development, and blockchain and NFTs capabilities to pivot their businesses into a Web3-centric product. Through strategic investments, Animoca forms partnerships and advisory agreements with the purpose of creating future synergies.
Animoca is a leader in the metaverse. Most recently, it has acquired Grease Monkey Games, Darewise, Eden Games, Notre Game, and Be Media in order to strengthen and expand gaming and Web3 capabilities. It also established new joint ventures including AniCube with Cube Entertainment, MetaHollywood with Planet Hollywood, and OneFootball Labs with former Cobalt portfolio company, OneFootball.
Additionally, Animoca recently announced a partnership with Cobalt portfolio company Yuga Labs, on the Otherside project, the metaverse game of the Bored Apes Yacht Club. The Otherdeed mint — a sale of NFTs that will enable owners to participate in building Otherside and claim plots of virtual land in it once it publicly launches — set the record for the largest NFT mint ever conducted. Animoca also participated in ApeCoin DAO’s launch of ApeCoin (APE) with CEO Yat Siu joining the ApeCoin DAO board.
Previously, Animoca introduced blockchain to internationally well-known brands such as Formula 1, MotoGP, The Walking Dead, Care Bears and many more. Animoca’s subsidiary, The Sandbox, has been recognized as one of the most important open metaverses and its utility token $SAND is one of the most sought after metaverse currencies.
The team is led by seasoned executives with expertise working with IP owners and conducting M&A: Co-Founder Yat Siu serves as Chairman of the Animoca Brands board and has assembled a team of executives from The Sandbox, McKinsey & Company, and Walt Disney with deep experience working with IP holders and executing on an M&A strategy.
We are excited for Animoca to continue being one of the key building blocks of the Web3 ecosystem!
