Singapore-based, government-backed, global investment company Temasek has led a $US200 million ($280 million) Series C funding round for non-fungible token (NFT) trading platform Immutable.
Sydney-based Immutable claims to be the world’s leading scalable platform for trading NFTs using Ethereum crypto currency.
Alongside Temasek, other new investors in the round were blockchain games business Animoca Brands, technology company Tencent, ParaFi Capital, Princeville Capital, Arrington Capital, Mirae Asset and Liberty Global.
Existing investors King River Capital, Prosus Ventures, AirTree Ventures, Declaration Partners, Fabric Ventures, Possible Ventures and Alameda Research also supported the round.
The round increased Immutable’s valuation to $US2.5 billion.
AirTree partner John Henderson said: “We are at a pivotal point in which the user experience creates a critical path to success for all emerging technologies and Immutable’s platform makes building NFT businesses simple, cost-effective and extremely easy to monetise.
“We are excited to be on this journey to foster greater adoption of powerful technology that is poised to change the way digital games are played.”
Immutable was founded in 2018 by chief executive Robbie Ferguson, his brother James and software engineer Alex Connolly.
The new capital will be used to boost Immutable’s global expansion by investing in its Immutable X platform and scaling up its Immutable Gaming Studio, including its flagship games Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians. Gods Unchained is the world’s second most popular blockchain game judged by number of players, according to Immutable.
Immutable currently employs 165 people and is one of the fastest growing Australian unicorns. The company now plans to hire an additional 200 people over the next 12 months mainly in sales, marketing engineering and product development.
The company also plans to expand into new sectors and explore M&A opportunities. Companies currently building on the Immutable X platform include GameStop, TikTok, Opensea, Ember Sword, Illuvium, GreenPark Sports and Gary Vee (Vee Friends).
To support its rapid expansion plans, Immutable recently recruited four new senior executives: chief operating officer Gill Findlay, a former AirTree Ventures partner and Safety Culture executive; chief growth officer John Boris, formerly of Lonely Planet; chief studio officer Justin Hulog, ex-Riot Games general manager, South-East Asia; and chief people officer Kaztherine Rau, formerly of Culture Amp, Unlockd and Catch.com.au.
James Ferguson said the company was committed to developing an ambitious but dependable web3 ecosystem for new era technology creators.
“Our investment partners understand the power and potential of the Immutable X platform and will play an integral role in this next phase of our growth,” he said.
GameStop recently announced it had entered a strategic partnership with Immutable to launch its new NFT marketplace on the Immutable X platform. The partnership included commitment of $US50 million from of the partners toward developing high-impact NFT gaming projects.
Image: Immutable executives John Boris, Katherine Rau, Robbie Ferguson, James Ferguson, Alex Connolly and Gill Findlay.