March 7 (Reuters) – Australian NFT startup Immutable has raised fresh funding from investors led by Singapore's Temasek in a round that values it at $2.5 billion, the company said on Monday, as it taps a surge in interest in cryptocurrency and NFT ventures.
Investors in the $200-million funding round include Mirae Asset, ParaFi Capital, Declaration Partners, Tencent Holdings and others, Immutable said.
The company had raised money at a valuation of $410 million in its previous funding round in 2021, it said.
Sydney-based Immutable is the developer of NFT games "Gods Unchained", an online game where trading is done through NFT cards, and "Guild of Guardians", a mobile game that allows players to earn tradeable rewards.
In February, it announced a partnership with GameStop (GME.N) to launch the videogame retailer's NFT marketplace alongside a fund worth $100 million dedicated to supporting creators of NFT content from gaming studios, Web3 and metaverse gaming. read more
NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are digital assets that exist on the blockchain and carry unique digital signatures that cannot be reproduced.
"We're excited to raise this capital so we can help deploy it aggressively through M&A opportunities," Immutable's co-founder and president, Robbie Ferguson, said.
In the past few years, large venture investors, celebrities and blue-chip companies have doubled down on crypto investments, betting on the potential of cryptocurrencies and the rapidly growing market for NFTs.
The global NFT market is already worth tens of billions of dollars.
Earlier this year, NFT platform Autograph, which was co-founded by professional football legend Tom Brady, raised $170 million from big-name Silicon Valley investors Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins. read more
Immutable has also created Immutable X, a platform it says allows transactions to take place at a much faster rate compared to Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain network. The platform also requires low computing power and has a smaller environmental impact, Immutable says in its website.
Immutable had raised $60 million in its last funding.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Sign up to our tech newsletter to get the latest news and trends in the global technology industry.
Subscribe to our newsletter to get all the news you need to start your day.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved

source