Venture capital firm and Web3 game developer Animoca Brands has denied claims that it has reduced its Metaverse funding target by $200 million, or 20% to $800 million amid volatility in the crypto market and instability in the banking sector.
The company also suggested that its value would drop from $6 billion in July 2022 to about $2 billion in March 2023.
According to a Reuters report on March 24 that cited “people with knowledge of the matter,” Animoca said it initially reduced Metaverse’s $2 billion funding target in January, and then followed that up with a 20% cut to $800 million. .
The fund was announced in November, with the aim of allocating capital to mid- to late-stage startups with a focus on Metaverse. At the time, the founder and chairman of Animoca Yat Siu stated that the target fund was between $1 billion and $2 billion, depending on the amount of capital raised.
In a public statement shared with Cointelegraph, Animoca stated that “the claim that Animoca Capital’s funding target was ‘cut’ from $2 billion to $1 billion is incorrect, as $1 billion has always been within the announced range.”
The company acknowledged that the banking collapse in the US would have had an impact, but stressed that the final amount for the fund had not been determined.
“There is no doubt that the FTX and banking crisis has a serious impact on the available venture capital, but the fundraising for the Animoca Capital fund is ongoing. When the raising is completed, we will inform the market with the appropriate details, including the final size of this fund,” said the company mentioned.
Commenting on the leaked information, Siu told Cointelegraph that the information came from an unnamed source, “so it is difficult to determine exactly who or what the source and agenda are, which is unfortunate.”
“Angry Birds is not made by Activision.” @viewfromhkCEO of @animocabrandsexplained in our exclusive conversation @ParisBlockWeek that major game companies do not always drive innovation.
Is it time for a new generation of game developers to shine on Web3? #PBW2023 pic.twitter.com/UwcujLeGYY
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 22, 2023
Regarding the company’s value, Animoca insisted that the figures reported by Reuters and “two other” unnamed people were inaccurate.
Animoca shares (AB1) were initially listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) at the company’s inception. However, AB1 was canceled again in March 2020 due to ASX’s statement that Animoca had violated listing rules by engaging in crypto-related activities, among others.
Since then, the shares have been traded on unlisted stock-focused exchanges such as Sydney-based PrimaryMarkets.
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Data from this platform was used to calculate AB1’s total market cap of approximately $2 billion. However, Animoca said these figures do not reflect the full picture of the company’s value.
“Claim […] that Animoca Brands ‘currently trades shares on PrimaryMarkets’ is not technically correct. We ended our arrangement with PrimaryMarkets in the second half of 2020, but PrimaryMarkets chose to continue trading Animoca Brands shares on the platform,” the company said, adding:
“We do not consider the thin trading activity on PrimaryMarkets to accurately reflect the value of the company. Trading volume is too low to provide the price accuracy you would find in an actual primary market.