Share this article
Animoca Brands Courts $50M Investment From Saudi Arabia's NEOM
Animoca will build Web3 service capabilities with global commercial application alongside NEOM to support its aspirations as a futuristic tech hub.
Updated Nov 3, 2023, 4:05 p.m. Published Oct 30, 2023, 1:05 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Metaverse and gaming venture capital firm Animoca Brands plans to enter into a partnership with Saudi Arabia's NEOM Investment Fund focused on Web3 initiatives.
The investment fund of NEOM – the project for a new urban area in northwest Saudi Arabia envisioned as a hub for technology, trade, entertainment and tourism – is proposing to invest $50 million in Animoca, according to an announcement on Monday.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Under the plan, Animoca will build Web3 service capabilities with global commercial applications alongside NEOM to support its aspirations as a futuristic tech hub.
A prominent name in the Web3 investment sector over a number of years, Animoca was valued at $6 billion in July 2022 with Singapore's state investment fund Temasek among its backers. The firm was targeting a raise of $2 billion for its metaverse fund the following November, however expectations were tamped significantly after the collapse of FTX, and Animoca reduced the target to $800 million in March 2023.
Animoca is now attracting investment from state-backed funds once again in what may be a sign of a turning tide in the Web3 venture capital sector amidst broader indications of the crypto winter thawing.
Read More: CMCC Global Raises $100M for Hong Kong-Based Blockchain Companies
More For You
Specialized AI detects 92% of real-world DeFi exploits
New research claims specialized AI dramatically outperforms general-purpose models at detecting exploited DeFi vulnerabilities.
What to know:
- A purpose-built AI security agent detected vulnerabilities in 92% of 90 exploited DeFi contracts ($96.8 million in exploit value), compared with 34% and $7.5 million for a baseline GPT-5.1-based coding agent running on the same underlying model.
- The gap came from domain-specific security methodology layered on top of the model, not differences in core AI capability, according to the report.
- The findings come as prior research from Anthropic and OpenAI shows AI agents can execute end-to-end smart contract exploits at low cost, accelerating concerns that offensive AI capabilities are scaling faster than defensive adoption.
Top Stories
