Published on: 20/04/2022
Metaverse startup The Sandbox seeking to raise $400M in funding
Mobile game and Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace The Sandbox is aiming to raise $400 million in funding from old and new investors. An anonymous source informed Bloomberg that the startup could be valued at $4 billion if the target was achieved.
Hong Kong-based gaming platform The Sandbox has been in discussions with investors around the globe as it sought to strengthen its foothold in the NFT and metaverse-focused market. Depending on market investor demands, details like the size and valuation of the upcoming raise may change. Thus, the valuation prediction of $4 billion may change as the talks are being finalized by all parties involved.
Any potential fundraising will follow the $93 million the startup pulled in November last year, led by Softbank Vision Fund 2. The Sandbox’s fundraising goal has always been to accelerate the development of the open metaverse.
Sebastien Borget, the company’s co-founder and chief operating officer, first hinted about the raise at the Non-Fungible Conference in Lisbon, saying that the company planned to take an “aggressive” approach to recruitment and acquisitions this year. It came only six months after the game netted $93 million in a Softbank-led funding round.
“We are creating this open metaverse. We are positioning the Sandbox against those giant tech companies who are claiming the metaverse to be theirs, offering an alternative where users are first,” Borget said.
On October 28 last year, Facebook changed its name to Meta, sparking interest in blockchain-based Metaverse projects. These include Decentraland, Axie Infinity, and The Sandbox. The Sandbox metaverse is a virtual open-world game where players can interact with each other and trade virtual assets in the form of NFTs.
The Sandbox’s metaverse game
The Sandbox is renowned for its two mobile games, which have recorded over 40 million downloads.
In 2018, it entered the blockchain space by introducing user-generated content with a marketplace letting users upload, publish and sell their NFT. In addition to that, the company has branched out into virtual land sales, fashion, and concerts with its own cryptocurrency SAND.
The Sandbox’s SAND token price soared tenfold within 30 days after the news about Horizon Worlds hitting an all-time high of $6.8 billion came. The Sandbox holds a substantial share of the SAND token supply. It generates additional revenue via the sale of virtual plots called LANDs within the game.
SAND has become an integral part of the Sandbox economy, with investors realizing that this growing funding might have an impact on the token’s stability in the long run. It has expanded its offerings beyond gaming and NFT assets to compete with other notable platforms, such as Decentraland (MANA).
The platform gained more attention when the multinational banking giant HSBC declared that it had purchased a virtual plot of LAND within the game to connect and engage with global sports, esports, and gaming communities.
Other companies that purchased LAND in the Sandbox recently are Adidas AG, retailer Carrefour SA, and Warner Music Group Corp. It has been reported that Warner planned to host live concerts on the platform.
