Artificial intelligence and metaverse technologies company Futureverse has teamed up with Web3 company Animoca Brands to speed up the development of the open metaverse under a new strategic deal that involves an equity swap.
Under the equity swap, valued at USD $5 million, Animoca Brands will buy shares in Futureverse at a value of $754 million, while Futureverse will buy shares in Animoca Brands at a price of AU $4.50 per share. Based on an exchange rate of AU $1 to USD $0.67, this translates to roughly 1.7 million new shares issued by Animoca Brands.
Last year, Futureverse raised $54 million in its Series A funding round led by 10T Holdings, with participation from Ripple. At the time, Futureverse said it would use the funds to continue developing its products, including the Futureverse Platform.
Futureverse said on Friday (June 28) that its memorandum of understanding with Animoca plays to both companies’ strengths: Futureverse’s AI tools and metaverse platform, and Animoca Brands’ network of Web3 projects.
The partnership aims to enhance the reach and capabilities of Futureverse’s technology stack. Futureverse’s AI tools, including the text-to-music platform JEN, will be integrated into Animoca Brands’ portfolio of over 400 Web3 projects. This could potentially lead to new applications of AI in the music industry within the metaverse.
Futureverse launched JEN 1, which it touted as a “universal high-fidelity model for text-to-music generation,” in August 2023. Subsequently in October 2023, music industry veteran Mike Caren joined Futureverse as a founding partner of JEN.
The AI research team behind JEN consists of AI PhDs and scientists who collectively have over 30 published AI research papers, according to a dedicated website for JEN.
In addition to JEN, Futureverse offers a suite of AI and metaverse tools designed to streamline user experience and support creators. These tools include Pass, a digital passport for managing identity, data, and assets across various metaverse experiences; DOT, a tool for creating high-quality, interoperable digital collectibles; and DOC, which enables text-to-3D creation.
“Animoca Brands is the clear market leader in Web3 game publishing and its expertise and reach in growing this ecosystem is unparalleled. We are excited to deepen our strategic ties with and bring our world leading AI, Web3 gaming technology and A-list IP to help supercharge its portfolio.”
Aaron McDonald, Futureverse
The partnership with Animoca Brands follows Futureverse’s recent collaboration with Reebok that allowed users to design custom digital sneakers via Instagram. Additionally, the company’s Readyverse Studios venture secured an exclusive partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring Ready Player One to the metaverse.
As part of the collaboration with Animoca Brands, Futureverse’s The Readyverse will work with Mocaverse, Animoca Brands’ interoperable infrastructure network, to advance interoperability within the Moca Network.
Aaron McDonald, co-founder of Futureverse, said: “Animoca Brands is the clear market leader in Web3 game publishing and its expertise and reach in growing this ecosystem is unparalleled. We are excited to deepen our strategic ties with and bring our world leading AI, Web3 gaming technology and A-list IP to help supercharge its portfolio.”
Yat Siu, executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands, added: “We are excited to partner with Futureverse, whose innovative AI and metaverse technologies are set to transform the digital landscape.”
“This strategic partnership and mutual investment will allow us to leverage Futureverse’s advanced technology stack to significantly enhance our portfolio of over 400 Web3 investments.”
Yat Siu, Animoca Brands
“This strategic partnership and mutual investment will allow us to leverage Futureverse’s advanced technology stack to significantly enhance our portfolio of over 400 Web3 investments. With Futureverse’s sophisticated L1 blockchain, The Root Network, and its suite of AI-driven tools, we see significant potential to accelerate the growth of our ecosystem.”
For Animoca, the deal with Futureverse follows the partnership between Animoca subsidiary The Sandbox, a decentralized gaming virtual world, and Warner Music Group, which introduced a gaming experience centered around legendary rapper Notorious B.I.G.
In 2022, Animoca co-led the $7.5 million seed round for Our Happy Company, an NFT platform co-founded by superstar artist and songwriter John Legend. During the same year, Animoca acquired a majority stake in Pixelynx, a music metaverse gaming platform.
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