Resurgence in Gaming Sector Venture Capital: Web3 Games Propelling Growth
Summary:
Venture capital funding within the gaming industry experienced a resurgence, showing a 94% increase totaling $594 million in Q1 2024. The period also witnessed a 28% rise in deal volume. Backed by blockchain games, the Web3 industry is growing, with Web3 games accounting for 30% of all DApp activities in Q1 2024. Numerous startups secured significant capital, including Tevaera with $5 million and AVALON receiving $10 million for their gaming projects. Meanwhile, Uncharted raised $1.7 million to develop a GameFi ecosystem. Contango Digital Assets secured $5 million to invest in blockchain and AI intersection startups. Binance Labs invested an undisclosed amount in Movement Labs, which is spearheading an ecosystem of Modular Move-based blockchains.
A dynamic resurgence is apparent in venture capital within the gaming sector, demonstrated by increased funding and a higher volume of deals. Konvoy Ventures, a prominent venture capital firm focused on the gaming industry, reported an impressive 94% hike in gaming venture capital funding, totaling $594 million in Q1 of 2024. Additionally, there were 124 gaming deals closed in the period, showing a 28% rise. Predictions from Konvoy suggest that by 2029, the gaming market could be worth $225 billion, up from its $189 billion valuation in 2023.
In parallel, blockchain games are propelling the Web3 industry. As revealed by DappRadar, Web3 games formed 30% of all DApp activities in Q1 2024, engaging 2.1 million active wallets daily. In the same quarter, Polygon experienced a substantial 429% growth by attracting over 1.1 million fresh wallets.
Venture capital firms, including Paradigm, Andreessen Horowitz and Pantera Capital, are gearing up to extend their reach facilitating this bullish cycle. Meanwhile, several startups that arrived in April were featured in Cointelegraph’s VC Roundup.
Gaming enterprise Tevaera recently announced the completion of a $5 million funding round led by Laser Digital, an arm of Nomura. The investment is aimed at supporting a gaming ecosystem being developed around zkSync’s ZK Stack. Among investors endorsing this startup are Matter Labs, Hashkey Capital, Fenbushi Capital, Faculty Group, Draper Dragon, Cogitent Ventures, Selini Capital, Morningstar Ventures, DWF Labs, Crypto.com Capital, and more. Currently, the company is concentrating on a game-IP-first strategy to overcome problems in Web3 gaming infrastructure while working on the zkSync platform.
AVALON, an independent game studio, has secured $10 million in funding co-commandeered by BITKRAFT Ventures and HASHED. Other investors include LiquidX, Spartan Capital, Foresight Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Momentum6. The funding will bankroll the inaugural multiplayer game being developed by AVALON. The leadership of the 2021 founded firm consists of former employees from Capcom, Sony, Ubisoft, Microsoft and Infinity Ward, who have experience in managing franchises such as EverQuest, Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed.
Uncharted, with its goal to create a GameFi ecosystem that integrates financial incentives into gameplay, has raised $1.7 million in seed funding. The principal contributor to the funding round was Shima Capital, with investments from Devmons, The Spartan Group, Trinity Labs, Double Peak Group, 32-bit, D64 Ventures and LiquidX. Uncharted's first game, “Gangster Arena,” amassed 150 ETH from in-game transactions during its launch.
Contango Digital Assets, a venture capital firm, has secured $5 million in initial capital for the Contango Blockchain x AI fund. This fund centers on investing up to $10 million in North American startups focused on the intersection of blockchain and artificial intelligence. Investors comprise of the likes of XVentures, earlier supporters of VANTA DAO, Polychain Capital, Digital Currency Group and Quantstamp’s Richard Ma.
Lastly, Binance Labs has invested an undisclosed amount in Movement Labs, who recently wrapped up a $38 million Series A funding round. Movement Labs aims to extend its open-source programming, tools, frameworks, and protocols and streamline the acceptance of the Move code across blockchains. The company was set up by Movement Labs' early builders, Rushi Manche and Cooper Scanlon, in 2022. The company is also working towards proliferating its growth in the Asia-Pacific region.
Published At
5/1/2024 9:37:09 PM
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