Animoca Brand's The Sandbox Raises $20M, Attains Unicorn Status According to the official release, the infused capital will be used to continue advancing The Sandbox's vision of a decentralized virtual world. It will be updating its Game Maker and VoxEdit 3D editor tools; introducing new social interactions and abilities for avatars; and expanding gameplay possibilities via its new multiplayer rules system, expected to launch in Beta later this year and to the public in 2025

On Thursday, Animoca Brands announced that its subsidiary Bacasable Global Limited, operator of The Sandbox raised USD 20 million of convertible promissory notes with a USD one billion valuation cap.

The strategic funding was led by Kingsway Capital and Animoca Brands with participation by LG Tech Ventures and True Global Ventures.

Noteholders can convert into equity of Bacasable Global Limited at the same terms as existing preference shares.

"We are deeply honoured by the continuing commitment to the vision of The Sandbox, and we're incredibly excited about the future of composable user-generated content games. McKinsey estimated that by 2030 the metaverse could add $5 trillion to the global economy; today, games like Minecraft and Roblox are some of the most popular titles in the world, but they do not provide their users with digital property rights. The Sandbox represents the evolution of UGC games for the age of digital ownership," said Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman, Animoca Brands.

According to the official release, the infused capital will be used to continue advancing The Sandbox's vision of a decentralized virtual world. It will be updating its Game Maker and VoxEdit 3D editor tools; introducing new social interactions and abilities for avatars; and expanding gameplay possibilities via its new multiplayer rules system, expected to launch in Beta later this year and to the public in 2025.

"We're excited to welcome new strategic partners who support our vision to develop the most accessible and inclusive platform that makes available the opportunities of Web3 to a global mainstream audience, and where brands and communities join hands to co-create the future of gaming and entertainment. The Sandbox is a proud believer in the power of the metaverse to shape our digital tomorrow to be collaborative, fair, and open," said Sebastien Borget, COO and co-founder, The Sandbox.

It is developing a version of mobile friendly decentralized metaverse which is expected to launch in 2025.

What's The Sandbox?

The Sandbox is a user-generated, virtual-gaming world where players can build, own and monetize their gaming experience reported has 5.7 million members.

It made its Alpha version public in November 2023 and now boasts of 1,000 user-generated experiences live-published on its virtual map.

It is one of the leading mainstream applications that onboard new users to Web3 and Metaverse. It has over 400 partnerships with global brands, including Lionsgate, Hellboy, Magnificent Century, Habbo, Space Invaders in Shibuya109, Notorious BIG, Warner Music, Ubisoft, Snoop Dogg, Gucci and hundreds of others.

In the last 12 months, its no-code Game Maker has been downloaded by over 330,000 unique creators. To date, over 60,000 avatar NFTs have been transacted in the virtual world. These NFTs include collections from notable brands such as Hellboy, Magnificent Century, Rabbids, MadBalls, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Paris Hilton, Captain Tsubasa, Maradona, Elvis Presley, Cut The Rope, Habbo Hotel, Agoria, and others.

The virtual platform will look to explore entering new markets in Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and Africa, among others.