Skymavis co-founders
Sky Mavis, the creator of the popular NFT-based game Axie Infinity, has attracted US$152 million in a Series B financing round led by US-based VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Accel Partners and Paradigm also joined this round.
The Vietnamese startup will use the money to build a global team, scale infrastructure, and build its distribution platform to support game developers in creating blockchain-enabled games.
The new deal follows a US$7.5 million Series A funding in May. Led by Libertus Capital, the round also saw participation from investors, including Collab + Currency, Blocktower Capital, Mark Cuban, Alexis Ohanian.
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Axie Infinity was founded in early 2018 by Aleksander Leonard Larsen, Nguyễn Thành Trung, Đoàn Minh Tú, Hồ Sỹ Việt Anh and Jeffrey Samuel Kim Zirlin.
Sky Mavis invented the play-to-earn (P2E) concept for people to play, live, work and earn within virtual worlds. Its first P2E game is Axie Infinity, where players breed, battle, and trade digital pets called Axie.
NFT-based P2E games are decentralised, meaning that the players own the in-game assets that they purchase and can generate real-world rewards for their in-game activities.
Axie Infinity says it has helped create income-generating opportunities for underserved people worldwide; 25 per cent of players are unbanked, and 50 per cent have not previously used cryptocurrencies.
Axie Infinity has amassed players worldwide, with more than 1.8 million daily active users logging into the platform in August. It claims to have achieved US$33 million in everyday transactions, for a total volume of over US$2 billion.
The Mavis Hub distributes games on both PCs and Macs and will connect to Sky Mavis’s proprietary Ronin Blockchain. In addition to supporting Axie Infinity, The Mavis Hub will help game developers build and distribute blockchain-enabled games.
Also Read: Vietnam’s Sky Mavis receives US$7.5M Series A to grow its blockchain game Axie Infinity
Arianna Simpson, the general partner at a16z, said. “The Axie team has unlocked a new way to build and play games that are already completely redefining this category. The game’s growth is a remarkable testament to how deeply this model resonates with people around the world. The Axie team has triggered an earthquake in gaming, and the industry is now forever changed.”
“We are on a mission to create economic freedom for gamers. We are making this happen by turning players into owners of in-game assets unlike the traditional model where publishers, distribution platforms and game developers retain control and benefit the most,” noted Trung Nguyen, Sky Mavis CEO.
Previously, Sky Mavis raised US$1.5 million from several backers such as Animoca Brands, Hashed, Pangea Blockchain Fund, Consensys, and 500 Startups Vietnam.
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