Brinc, a Hong Kong-headquartered venture capital focused on Web 3.0, today announced that it has secured US$30 million in a Series B round and an additional US$100 million for startup investments. The funding was led by Animoca Brands — a Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming, metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT) company — to further fuel Brinc’s investment in Web 3.0 companies.
Fast facts
- Brinc said in a statement that the new capital would “enable Brinc’s expansion into Web 3.0 including the launch of new blockchain-focused accelerator programs across culture, music, art, collectibles, gaming, decentralized finance and data.”
- Startups and companies will also be supported in developing blockchain ventures to integrate sustainability, inclusion and equitability into their business models, Brinc said.
- Brinc and Animoca have already been working together and in July, jointly launched Launchpad Luna, an accelerator program to identify, mentor, and invest in promising blockchain and NFT startups. The first cohort of the program — whose panel of mentors and experts include Binance, Dapper Labs, Enjin and The Sandbox — is currently in the process of closing investments in 30 Web 3.0 companies, Brinc said in the statement. Next year, Bring and Animoca plan to accelerate more than 100 companies through Launchpad Luna.
- “Web 3.0 technologies have the potential to democratize access to financial services and information, develop a more inclusive digital economy through aligned value capture mechanisms, and transform global business processes, just as the [internet] did,” Manav Gupta, founder and CEO of Brinc, said in the statement. “Working with Animoca Brands to support leading companies in this space is an incredible opportunity, and underscores an increasing interest in utilizing accelerators to access high-quality startup opportunities at scale.”
- Yat Siu, executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca, called Brinc “the leading name in startup acceleration for emerging markets and technologies, and its sights are set firmly on the future and on sustainability,” according to the media statement.
- Animoca has been actively forming partnerships to further expand its blockchain presence. Just last week, it announced a collaboration with a Hong Kong-based racehorse-breeding business to bring equestrian activities into the metaverse. Also last week, Animoca and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) said they’ve joined hands to launch a US$200 million investment program to accelerate and incubate early crypto gaming startups built on BSC.