Quick take:
- The $100 million will add to Animoca’s fundraising for 2022.
- Temasek will lead the funding round through convertible bonds.
- Animoca is now valued at $5.9 billion.
Singapore’s state holding company, Temasek, is leading a $100 million funding round for Animoca Brands, according to a Bloomberg report. Temasek will lead the funding round through convertible bonds, said people familiar with that matter.
The round adds to Animoca’s fundraising for this year, which includes a $359 million funding led by Liberty City Ventures in January, and a $75.32 million second tranche in July which valued the company at $5.9 billion.
Temasek doesn’t directly invest in cryptocurrency but backs Web3 service providers. In February, the company participated in a $200 million funding round for crypto lender, Amber Group. Temasek also led Immutable’s $200 million Series C funding at a valuation of $2.5 billion in March.
The state holding company has also participated in the fundraising of Web3 companies such as ConsenSys, Soul Machines, and Aptos via Superscrypt, an early-stage blockchain investment company founded by Temasek.
With a portfolio of over 340 companies in the Web3 space, Animoca is the biggest blockchain investor in Asia. The company has $1.5 billion in assets under management and plans to continue investing amid the crypto winter which has seen a $2 trillion decrease in market cap since November.
Animoca co-founder Yat Siu told Bloomberg that the company wants to take advantage of the crypto downturn to snap up stakes in industry players and digital tokens. The company plans to go public in the next two to three years depending on how the market reacts to the company’s core business of selling tokens and taking a cut from secondary transactions.
Despite having already raised hundreds of millions, Animoca’s raise hit a snag when buyout giant KKR & Co. withdrew from the latest round following the crypto downturn, Bloomberg reported in July.
Animoca Brands Japan, a strategic subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based blockchain investment giant created to target NFT-related business opportunities and partnerships in Japan, recently completed a $45 million fundraising backed by its parent and Japan’s largest bank MUFG. Both companies invested $22.5 million in the Japanese subsidiary.
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