Animoca-Backed Australian NFT Startup Immutable Raises $200 Million At $2.5 Billion Valuation

Sydney-based NFT startup Immutable—backed by the likes of U.S.-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research—has raised $200 million in Series C funding at a valuation of $2.5 billion.

The funding round was led by Singaporean state investment firm Temasek and included Chinese tech giant Tencent, Hong Kong-based blockchain game developer Animoca Brands and Korean billionaire Park Hyeon-joo’s Mirae Asset.

“Immutable is locked in on developing a leading, ambitious, and dependable Web3 ecosystem for a new era of creators that desire scalable results in the world’s fastest-growing industry,” said Immutable cofounder and CEO James Ferguson, a Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia alum from 2019, in a statement. “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.”

“We’re thrilled to double down on our partnership with Immutable,” added Yat Siu, cofounder and chairman of Animoca. “We’re excited to explore integrations with Immutable X across Animoca’s portfolio of content–bringing next-level scale, security, and liquidity to the next generation of blockchain games.”

The funding round comes on the heels of a $60 million Series B in September. Before that, Immutable raised $16 million in its Series A funding round and $2 million in seed funding.

Formerly known as Fuel Games, Immutable grew from a blockchain-based esports company into a developer of a scalable platform for trading NFTs. Immutable X, a platform for NFTs on the ethereum blockchain network, has adopters including GameStop, TikTok, and Opensea.

Last month, Immutable entered into a strategic partnership with GameStop to launch the meme-stock company’s NFT marketplace on the Immutable X platform and set up a $100 million fund for NFT gaming projects.

Immutable added that the fresh capital will be used to fuel global expansion and accelerate growth, which includes investing in the Immutable X platform, scaling the Immutable Gaming Studio and doubling its workforce of 165 employees. Immutable’s flagship games Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians are two of the world’s largest blockchain games, with the former hosting over 80,000 players as of this January.