10 crypto VCs enthusiastic about investing in NFTs, who else besides Animoca Brands?
A few years ago, NFTs began to gain popularity in niche circles of blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiasts.Compiled by: Plamena Malinova, Deep Tide TechFLow
Source: PitchBook
A few years ago, NFTs began to gain popularity within niche circles of blockchain and crypto enthusiasts. It wasn't until March 2021, when the collage "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" by artist Beeple sold for $69.3 million at Christie's auction house, that crypto art officially exploded into the mainstream and entered the public eye.
Meanwhile, last year, the world's two largest venture capital firms, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Paradigm, became major investors in the NFT space.
They are not the only ones betting on the hype surrounding digital assets; numerous fund managers and venture capital firms have followed suit, establishing NFT strategies and investment frameworks.
According to data tracked by the PitchBook platform, as of October 13, there have been 1,071 investments in the NFT space globally, with funding surging to $5.7 billion.
Top 10 Venture Capital Firms Investing in NFTs by Number of Transactions
The following will list investment institutions enthusiastic about NFTs from 2021 to September 16, 2022.
The data on NFT investments comes from the PitchBook platform, representing the transaction situations of additional or new investments made by each company during the same period.
Animoca Brands
NFT Investments: 93
Headquarters: Hong Kong, China
Animoca Brands, founded in 2014, is a venture capital and software gaming company that develops digital property rights for gamers through NFTs and games, aiming to build an open metaverse. In September this year, Animoca Brands announced it raised $110 million in funding, supported by Temasek Holdings, Boyu Capital, and GGV Capital. The company plans to use these funds for acquisitions, investments, and "popular intellectual properties" to further bring the metaverse into the public eye. Animoca Brands is heavily invested in the NFT and metaverse space, with early investments in crypto unicorns like Sky Mavis, OpenSea, Decentraland, and Sandbox, driving the development of the NFT industry.
Related: Intense Offensive During Crypto Winter, Animoca Brands Goes on a Buying Spree
AU21 Capital
NFT Investments: 63
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
AU21 Capital, founded in 2017, is a venture capital firm seeking to invest in companies in the blockchain and artificial intelligence sectors. In April last year, AU21 Capital made a strategic investment in the NFT platform Refinable; in February this year, the hedge fund announced its investment in the metaverse chain game project Sidus Heroes, an NFT-centered MMORPG that has transformed traditional gaming monetization models through its metaverse-focused game development.
Shima Capital
NFT Investments: 60
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Shima Capital, founded in 2021, is a venture capital firm focused on seeking early-stage cryptocurrency and blockchain startups, providing them with funding and resources. In June this year, the NFT-based metaverse game Mech.com announced it completed a $6 million seed round, led by Shima Capital, with participation from Polygon, BreederDAO, and others. Its investment projects also include the real-time multiplayer NFT fighting game Battle of Guardians, the play-to-earn NFT game Continuum World, and the 3D NFT pixel game Crypto Fight Club.
NGC Ventures
NFT Investments: 46
Headquarters: Singapore
NGC Ventures, founded in 2017, is a venture capital firm investing in the blockchain and fintech sectors. On September 6, the company provided seed funding to the blockchain consulting service provider PANONY, with the specific amount undisclosed. This funding will help expand its business into other jurisdictions and launch new service products and network features. NGC Ventures' investments in NFTs include the NFT infrastructure All.Art, the NFT social platform DeFine, and the NFT fighting game Battle of Guardians.
Sfermion
NFT Investments: 44
Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
Sfermion, founded in 2019, focuses on investing in blockchain industry startups and NFTs to advance metaverse development. The company's investments in the NFT space include the decentralized, pooled, and lending protocol Bridgesplit on Solana, the peer-to-peer collateralized NFT lending platform Flowty on Flow, the first cross-IP PVP game Galaxy Fight Club in the NFT world, the 3D avatar NFT creation platform DNABLOCK, and the NFT aggregator Hyperspace on Solana.
Exnetwork Capital
NFT Investments: 44
Headquarters: Philippines
Exnetwork Capital, founded in 2018, is a fund, accelerator, and incubator company that prefers investments in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors. The company's investments in NFTs include the P2P auction platform Polkally, the multi-chain NFT marketplace PolkaRare, the digital collectibles platform Koi Metaverse, the NFT card game Duelist King, the NFT esports and gaming platform 2CrazyNFT, and the first robot battle NFT game Starbots Game on Solana.
Magnus Capital
NFT Investments: 41
Headquarters: Amsterdam
Magnus Capital, founded in 2015, is a venture capital firm and incubator based in Amsterdam, focusing on investments in cryptocurrencies. In September, the company participated in a $3 million funding round for the EU metaverse startup MetaFi, which was established earlier this year to provide services, tools, and infrastructure for NFTs, the metaverse, and game finance. Magnus Capital's NFT-related investments also include the NFT esports and gaming platform 2CrazyNFT, the digital collectibles platform Chronicle for fans, and the universal NFT 2.0 protocol DareNFT.
Genesis Block Ventures
NFT Investments: 41
Headquarters: Cayman Islands
Genesis Block Ventures, founded in 2020, is a company focused on seed, early, and late-stage investments in the blockchain sector. The company's investments in NFTs include the NFT liquidity solution AFKDAO, the NFT-centered Layer 1 blockchain Aura Network, the mobile play-to-earn NFT game Genopets powered by Solana, the NFT service platform Mintverse, and the NFT marketplace Refinable.
HG Ventures
NFT Investments: 40
Headquarters: Seoul, South Korea
HG Ventures, founded in 2017, is a company investing in seed, early, and late-stage blockchain technology firms. The company's investments in NFTs include the NFT social platform DeFine, the P2E game KlayCity based on the Klaytn network that allows users to own NFT virtual properties, the multi-chain NFT marketplace PolkaRare, the NFT webcomic TooNFT, and the open finance platform Vera Labs for NFTs.
ZBS Capital
NFT Investments: 37
Headquarters: Kyiv, Ukraine
ZBS Capital, founded in 2017, is a venture capital fund focused on blockchain, marketing, and finance. The company's investments in NFTs include the NFT marketplace Colexion, the cross-chain NFT marketplace GhostMarket, the NFT marketplace HoDooi.com, the multi-chain NFT marketplace NFT Stars, the digital collectibles and NFT platform MADworld, and the NFT multi-chain bridge XP.network.
