Blockchain infrastructure platform Immutable has launched a new $500 million fund for emerging gaming protocols and non-fungible token (NFT) startups in the Web3.0 ecosystem.
As reported by TechCrunch, the new fund will be used to back protocols that are building web3 games and NFT-focused companies on its layer-2 Ethereum-focused platform, Immutable X.
“We see gaming being one of the biggest opportunities in web3 to have ever existed,” said Robbie Ferguson, president, and co-founder of Immutable. “The total addressable market is going to be enormous and much bigger than what gaming is today — a $100 billion industry for in-game items alone,” a figure that emphasizes how important the industry is and why Immutable is all out to support this new niche.
Ferguson noted that the funds came from diverse sources including from its “venture partners who are using their balance sheets and VC allocations to come in on these deals, there’s cash-backed on [Immutable’s] balance sheet and there’s also the foundation’s grants, which are specifically designed for this purpose to incentivize and build the Immutable ecosystem.”
Immutable’s ImmutableX is fast becoming the go-to place for both Web2 and Web3 companies looking to embrace blockchain gaming and NFTs. While the protocol currently plays host to outfits like GameStop, OpenSea, TikTok, and Illuvium, it plans to partner with a couple more brands in the industry in order to bolster its plans to support its chosen startups.
According to the report, the outfit Immutable plans to explore new partnerships with include BITKRAFT, Animoca Brands, Arrington Capital, Double Peak, AirTree, and King River Capital. With its broad-based plans, Immutable is counting on becoming a prominent platform that will help onboard more brands into Web3 in the next couple of years when more names will hope to make a dash into the ecosystem.
The new investment fund mimics those of other major players in the Web3.0 world including Avalanche and Binance Labs, and it shows that Immutable is being properly funded by venture capital firms to achieve its mission.
Immutable has raised $60 million in a Series B funding round co-led by BITKRAFT Ventures and King River Capital.
Immutable’s flagship product is Immutable X, the first NFT-focused Layer 2 scaling solution on Ethereum.
Immutable X uses StarkWare’s zero-knowledge-based rollup technology, offering instant and costless transactions.
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Immutable, the team behind the first Layer 2 scaling solution for NFTs on Ethereum, has raised $60 million in a Series B funding round co-led by BITKRAFT Ventures and King River Capital.
Immutable Aims for Mainstream NFT Adoption
Immutable has raised $60 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total funding to $77.5 million.
The raise was co-led by BITKRAFT Ventures and King River Capital, with participation from Alameda Research, Prosus Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Fabric Ventures, AirTree Ventures, Reinventure, Apex Capital, and VaynerFund.
Immutable will reportedly use the funds to expand its global engineering and sales teams, strengthen key partnerships with gaming companies, and scale the growth of its in-house NFT games, Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians.
Immutable’s flagship product is Immutable X, the first NFT-focused Layer 2 scaling solution on Ethereum. The protocol uses StarkWare’s ZK-Rollup, a zero-knowledge-based rollup solution offering up to 9,000 transactions per second, instant trade confirmations, instant withdrawals to Ethereum, and zero gas fees without compromising on security. Rollupsadopt the security of Ethereum, while sidechains such asPolygonhave their own security properties and consensus mechanism.
Immutable X is also carbon-neutral, something that’s become a pertinent issue within the NFT space this year. As the technology has gained wider mainstream attention, many critics have raised concerns about the environmental impact of minting NFTs on energy-intensive Proof-of-Work blockchains like Ethereum. To offset the environmental cost, Immutable has pledged to buy carbon credits until 2025, after which Ethereum is expected to have merged to the more environmentally-friendly Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism.
Immutable is aiming to empower the NFT economy by alleviating the costs associated with it. Minting NFTs on Ethereum can be prohibitively expensive during peak periods of congestion, pricing out most retail investors. With Immutable X, Ethereum users are able to mint and trade NFTs instantly without paying a fee.
Commenting on the raise, Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson said:
“NFT trading is a terrible mainstream user experience right now. It’s expensive, illiquid, and the only existing scaling solutions compromise on the most important thing: the security and user base of Ethereum. We want businesses to create their game, marketplace, or NFT application within hours via APIs, with a mainstream user experience. No blockchain programming required.”
“Immutable is an exciting business, with a first-class management team, and transformative technology at the center of a rapidly evolving market,” added Zeb Rice, a founding partner at King River Capital.
Immutable is responsible for launching one of blockchain’s most successful games, Gods Unchained, and is currently working on scaling the largest NFT marketplace on Ethereum,OpenSea. The project is also in the process of launching its own governance and utility token, IMX.
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Immutable, a layer-two nonfungible token (NFT) protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain, has announced a $60 million Series B funding raise from a multitude of corporate venture firms, including Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research and Gary Vaynerchuk’s VaynerFund.
The funding round was co-led by gaming investment platform Bitkraft Ventures and venture firm King River Capital. The new capital will be allocated to supporting Immutable’s growing ambitions, including expanding its global engineering and sales departments, fostering industry partnerships and scaling the network’s native NFT gaming projects.
Through its scaling solution, Immutable X, the protocol provides a foundational infrastructure for the global business market to distribute and exchange NFT digital assets on the Ethereum ecosystem.
In 2019, the platform was responsible for supporting the launch of the blockchain-based trading card game Gods Unchained. The native ERC-20 token GODS acts as the medium of exchange within the game’s ecosystem.
Immutable X is an NFT-dedicated blockchain protocol that claims to allow 9,000 transactions per second for ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens, near-instant transactions, zero gas fees and greater scaling capabilities through the utilization of StarkWare’s zk-Rollup, all while sustaining carbon neutrality.
Related: Ethereum layer-twos reportedly processing more transactions than Bitcoin
Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson believes that the NFT trading experience has the potential to improve from the state of its current offering:
“It’s expensive, illiquid, and the only existing scaling solutions compromise on the most important thing — the security and user-base of Ethereum. We want businesses to create their game, marketplace, or NFT application within hours via APIs, with a mainstream user experience. No blockchain programming required.”
Utilizing zero-knowledge proofs — a method of anonymizing transactions — the protocol offsets its carbon footprint by bulking mint and trading activity into a compressed validity proof that is then reuploaded to the original blockchain. This procedure requires less gas — and in turn, less energy consumption.
4/ Example, historically on L1, minting 8 million @GodsUnchained cards on Ethereum would consume approximately 490 million kWh.
On Immutable X, we’ve minted 8 million NFT cards with only ~1,030kWh = 844 kg CO2. That’s 475,000x less energy consumption.
— Immutable (@Immutable) March 31, 2021
With a Twitter thread, the protocol also added context to the data: “To put this [the carbon figure of 844kg CO2] in perspective, a one-way flight from LAX to NYC is 807 kWh = 662 kg CO2.”
By purchasing carbon credits — an industry certification permitting carbon emission up to a certain limit — the protocol is working on its environmental initiative by pledging to neutralize the carbon output of any NFT asset, marketplace or game built upon its platform.
Guild of Guardians is a AAA mobile blockchain RPG, which will allow players to turn their gaming passions into assets. It will be a multiplayer, fantasy, action title, where players build their dream team of ‘Guardians’ and compete in a guild to earn epic rewards. It is set to launch in the first half of 2022.
By the numbers
So far Guild of Guardians has over 120,000 players who have pre-registered for the game. They’ve also got more than 34,000 Twitter followers, and a rapidly growing Discord community of nearly 8,000 people.
Who is developing it?
The game is developed by Stepico and published by Immutable. Stepico Games is a leading Ukrainian game development studio that has been responsible for the development of multiple mobile titles in the strategy and RPG space and has received more than five million downloads. Immutable is an industry leading, $17 million VC-funded blockchain company backed by investors such as Naspers, Galaxy Digital and Coinbase. They are responsible for launching the most successful blockchain trading card game, Gods Unchained.
What is the game all about?
Guild of Guardians is set in a fantasy world, inspired by Diablo and Dungeons & Dragons. It’s a team RPG where players build their dream team of “Guardians”, battle challenging dungeons, collect items and resources, and craft items which can be traded for real money.
Social engagement and Guild play is core to the experience. Players will have to work together to craft the best Equipment, to level their Heroes, and to complete the hardest and most rewarding content in the game.
Show me some footage
Their Pre-Alpha gameplay footage is pretty wicked, if we do say so ourselves…
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… and their cinematic trailer has us hyped.
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Is there a token?
Guild of Guardians will feature a tradable in-game currency called “Gems”, an ERC-20 token. Gems will be distributed to players and community members for certain actions, including playing the game or purchasing NFTs in the founder sale. Gems will be required to pay for certain purchases and minting actions in the game, upon which they are sent to a rewards pool and distributed to Gem holders who actively stake Gems and participate in the game.
How can I get involved in this project early?
Guild of Guardians is releasing an NFT Gaming Collectibles Founder Sale – which gives players the opportunity to purchase and collect exclusive founder NFTs. All NFTs will be playable when the game launches on mobile in 2022.
Founder NFTs will never be sold again, and there will be Gem rewards for those who buy. Early backers will have a slightly higher price discount and slightly higher probability of getting low serial numbers, so mark the date.
The Guild of Guardians Founder Sale will go live in the next two or so weeks. Join their Twitter and Discord to be the first to know when the countdown starts.
For more information on Guild of Guardians, please visit www.guildofguardians.com
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