Animoca Brands Invests $10M in Blockchain Gaming Platform Lava Labs

Lava Labs has announced raising $10 million in the latest series A funding round. Its valuation has now topped a whopping $100 million. The London-based blockchain gaming startup plans to infuse the capital into developing its new multiplayer Web3 game – AFAR.

• Lava Labs’ official release revealed that the funding was led by Swiss venture capital firm, Dialectic. It also saw the participation from Animoca Brands, Dragonfly, Defiance, Merit Circle, Dapper Labs, among others, in addition to angels – Nick Chong, Santiago R Santos, Gabby Dizon.
• The investors will enable the studio to accelerate team growth and develop the game according to the company.
• Following the announcement, Kaya Tilev, CEO and Creative Director Lava Labs, commented,

“We are incredibly motivated to set the tone on blockchain gaming with laser-focus on gameplay fun. The early community support has been overwhelmingly exciting.

• The funds will go towards “AFAR” – a multiplayer game that involves 25 players competing against each other in four-minute battles of four rounds. The gaming platform also said players will be able to start using their lands in a mini-game in the second quarter this year while the development of the main game continues.
• Talking about the latest round of funding, Dialectic Founder Ryan Zurrer stated,

“Lava Labs is on a path to becoming the Pixar of Web3. When you see the gameplay in AFAR the immediate reaction is ‘this game and this team are fully next levels”

• The funding round was reportedly closed in February, right after which the company announced the sale of new virtual land that is expected later this year.
• Lava Labs was founded in 2019 and is backed by Trip Hawkins, the founder of American video game company Electronic Arts. Hawkins serves as executive coach and advisor at the studio.
• It received prior funding from Makers Fund, which happens to be a venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments.