Metaverse Startup The Sandbox Closes $93M Series B Led by SoftBank

Metaverse startup The Sandbox said it closed a $93 million Series B funding round led by SoftBank.

• The Sandbox is an Ethereum-based platform where players can “play, create, own, and govern a virtual world,” its site states.
• Players can own in-game assets in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as plots of land that they can build on.
• The Sandbox token, SAND, has a $2.46 billion market cap, according to data from intelligence platform CoinMarketCap.
• The startup’s majority stakeholder is Hong Kong-based gaming firm Animoca Brands, an early metaverse and GameFi backer that was valued at $2.2 billion after raising $65 million in October.
• Other investors in the round include True Global Ventures, Liberty City Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Kingsway Capital and Blue Pool Capital.
• Singapore-based True Global Ventures contributed $10 million to the round through its blockchain-focused 4 Plus fund, according to a separate press release shared with CoinDesk.
• The virtual world now has $144 million in gross merchandise value, 500,000 registered wallets, and 12,000 unique landowners, the press release said.
• The Sandbox has set up partnerships with names like rapper Snoop Dogg, AMC TV series “The Walking Dead,”children’s cartoons “Care Bears”and “The Smurfs,” gaming brand Atari and non-fungible token (NFT) collection CryptoKitties.

Read more: Metaverse Backer Animoca Brands Raises $65M at $2.2B Valuation

UPDATE (Nov. 2, 10:00 UTC): Adds details about True Global Ventures investment.