Metaverse platform The Sandbox secures US$93m in Series B round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2

Nov 02, 2021

METAVERSE platform The Sandbox has secured US$93 million in its Series B fundraising round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

Other investors in the round include True Global Ventures 4 Plus (TGV 4 Plus) Fund, Animoca Brands, Liberty City Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Kingsway Capital, LG Technology Ventures, Polygon Studios and Samsung Next, TGV said in a statement on Tuesday (Nov 2).

TGV, which first invested in The Sandbox in the equity round in 2019, said the fund-raising represents SoftBank Vision Fund 2's first investment in crypto assets. TGV 4 Plus Fund followed on with the series B round and invested US$10 million into The Sandbox.

The Sandbox is a metaverse that offers players and creators a decentralised platform to create 3D worlds and game experiences, as well as to store, trade and monetise their creations. It is a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, which develops and publishes products in digital entertainment, blockchain and gamification.

The Sandbox team will use the investment to scale its growth as an entertainment destination for brands, intellectual properties, and celebrities to engage with fans through virtual experiences.

Its metaverse is made up of non-fungible tokens called Land, which can be bought by players to host games, build multiplayer experiences, create housing or offer social experiences to the community.

Major brands that have partnered The Sandbox include Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, Atari, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Care Bears, The Smurfs, Shaun the Sheep, and Binance.

TGV noted that The Sandbox "experienced tremendous growth" this year, generating over US$144 million in gross merchandise value to date, and where it now has more than 500,000 users with a connected wallet.

"We believe that there will be many more new innovative use cases in The Sandbox and other metaverses than we know of today," it added.