Axie Infinity Maker Sky Mavis Raises Series B Led by Andreesen Horowitz

The noted American VC firm invested a significant amount into the Vietnamese company behind the popular NFT game.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 6 October 2021 11:34 IST

Axie Infinity Maker Sky Mavis Raises Series B Led by Andreesen Horowitz

The craze around NFTs has witnessed a major boom in recent times

Highlights

American venture capital firm extends financial aid to NFT game maker
The amount of money invested by Andreessen Horowitz remains undisclosed
Standard Crypto and Samsung Next are among other investors in Sky Mavin

Axie Infinity maker Sky Mavis has raised Series B funding led by the noted American venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz. Axie Infinity is one of the most successful NFT games where people can earn rewards simply by playing that can be traded for real world money. Sky Mavis raised $152 million (roughly Rs. 1,134 crores) from at least six crypto and blockchain investors in its Series B round. Founded in 2019, the gaming studio shot to fame after its game Axie Infinity went viral. The game allows players to collect and battle cute and fierce virtual pets called Axies. Players can earn cryptocurrencies via this game as well.

Earlier in September, a Business Insider report had claimed that the San Francisco, US-based VC firm was establishing a new fund pool – exclusively for gaming start-ups.

Andreessen Horowitz's investment Sky Mavis comes at a time when the gaming company's valuation has inched closer to $3 billion (roughly Rs. 22,377 crores). In addition, the native crypto token of Axie Infinity game called “AXS” touched an all-time high of over $155 (roughly Rs. 11,500) on October 4. The AXS token is built on the Ethereum blockchain technology.

Samsung Wins Patent for a Tri-Fold Smartphone With Specialised Barrier Layer for Improved Durability

The craze around NFTs has been witnessing a boom on the global level. NFTs are digital assets representing real-world objects like art, music, in-game items, and videos among other unique stuff that can be bought using cryptocurrencies. The game Axie Infinity offers adorable virtual monsters that can be purchased as NFTs or won through gameplay.

As per a report by VentureBeat.com, an average transaction for an Axie Infinity NFT is worth around $420 (roughly Rs. 31,319). As of September 16, over 615,000 NFT traders had bought or sold Axie Infinity NFTs in 4.88 million transactions, the report said.

Accel, Paradigm, Standard Crypto, as well as Fabric Ventures, and Samsung Next are among other companies that extended funds to Sky Mavin in this round.

NFT Sales Surge to $10.7 Billion in Q3 as Crypto Asset Frenzy Hits New Highs

The decision of Andreessen Horowitz to invest in this NFT game-making brand comes just days after a top US official clarified that the country was not planning on banning cryptocurrencies or crypto-related activities.

In the last week of September, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed to the crypto sector saying that the central bank has no intentions on banning digital assets.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Andreessen Horowitz, NFT Game, Sky Mavis, Axie Infinity, Crypto, Blockchain, Non-Fungible Token, America, Vietnam

Radhika Parashar

Email Radhika

Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More