Hong Kong crypto mogul aims to raise $1 bln for Web3, metaverse investment fund

Hong Kong crypto mogul aims to raise $1 bln for Web3, metaverse investment fund

Animoca Brands Corp. is looking to raise about $1 billion this quarter for its new Web3 and metaverse investment fund, sharply scaling back its ambitions during the current crypto industry meltdown.

Animoca Capital is in talks with potential investors and would use the money to support blockchain and metaverse startups, co-founder Yat Siu, who is also the chairman of Animoca Brands, said in a Twitter Spaces chat with Bloomberg in Hong Kong on Thursday.

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The collapse of the FTX exchange in early November upended the crypto world, triggering bankruptcies and shutdowns among various industry players. Around a dozen of Animoca’s portfolio firms were severely affected by the event, beyond the broader market downturn, Siu said. They included NFT spaceship seller Star Atlas, which had much of its treasury sitting on Sam Bankman-Fried’s now-defunct trading platform.

For Animoca Capital, “Q1 is the goal and then let’s see what happens,” Siu said. “It is fair to say it’s a challenging market. But we have quite a bit of interest.” He added that a shaky market could mean eventually raising slightly lower than the targeted amount.

In November, the Animoca chief said in a