Australian NFT trading platform Immutable announced a $200 million Series C funding round led primarily by Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek and with participation from Animoca Brands and Tencent. Additional investment from ParaFi Capital, Princeville Capital and Arrington Capital as well as from existing backers King River Capital, Prosus Ventures, AirTree Ventures, Declaration Partners and others have raised Immutable’s valuation to $2.5 billion.
The company intends to put this capital toward developing its Immutable X layer-2 scaling solution for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum network and scaling Immutable Gaming Studio, which includes its flagship Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians video games. Immutable X uses StarkWare’s StarkEx zero-knowledge proof technology to achieve scalability on Ethereum while providing game developers with zero gas fees and a carbon-neutral environment.
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Robbie Ferguson, Immutable’s co-founder and president, tweeted that the future of gaming is dependent on NFT economies and that Immutable wants to pioneer NFT adoption.
Related: Monthly NFT buyers dip below 800K as searches ‘fall off a cliff’
Ferguson added that the digital future will need open order books as opposed to siloed liquidity, and “genuine” decentralization on Ethereum as well as consumer-focused NFT projects.
According to the company, part of Immutable’s plans for “rapid global expansion” include onboarding four new executives: Justin Hulog, former Riot Games general manager, as chief studio officer; Gill Findlay, AirTree ventures partner, as chief operating officer; John Boris, former CEO of IfOnly, as chief growth officer; and Katherine Rau as chief people officer. Immutable also plans to grow its 165-person team by adding 200 new employees globally this year.
Related: Immutable X (IMX) price soars after GameStop partnership and new project launches
Recently, Immutable partnered with GameStop to develop the game retailer’s upcoming NFT marketplace as well as sponsor game creators via a $100 million grant program. Other companies currently building on Immutable X include TikTok, OpenSea, Ember Sword, GreenPark Sports and Gary Vee’s Vee Friends.
Immutable is one of several blockchain and crypto-focused companies to have achieved “unicorn” status over the past year. In the startup community, a unicorn is a company that achieves a valuation of $1 billion or more.
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