The Sandbox, a metaverse and Web3 gaming firm, has successfully raised US$20 million from Kingsway Capital and Animoca Brands, propelling the company’s valuation to the US$1 billion mark.

The recent funding, which includes contributions from LG Tech Ventures and True Global Ventures, is set to enhance The Sandbox’s offerings, including new social features, avatar skills, and improvements to its Game Maker and VoxEdit 3D editing tools.

Anticipation is building for the beta release of its multiplayer rules system later in 2024, with a full rollout expected in 2025.

Since its Alpha launch in November 2023, The Sandbox has cultivated over 1,000 user-generated experiences and has amassed a user base of 5.7 million accounts connected to cryptocurrency wallets.

The Sandbox places a focus on digital property rights and user-generated content.

Despite the metaverse industry’s recent challenges, including skepticism and underwhelming user engagement as seen in Meta’s US$1.2 billion project, The Sandbox’s strategy is gaining traction with both creators and investors.

The Sandbox claims to have attracted over 330,000 new users in the past year.