The Sandbox Raises at $1B Valuation
After targeting a $4 billion valuation in 2022, the crypto gaming brand reins it in. Subscribe to Bankless or sign in Crypto gaming startup The Sandbox has raised $20M at a $1B valuation. Kingsway Capital and Animoca Brands led the investment, which was supported by LG Tech Ventures and True Global Ventures.What's the scoop?Token Reaction: Following the funding announcement, the SAND token increased by 4.5%, though this new round speaks to the broader challenges in the NFT and gaming spaces. The company’s private valuation went from a targeted $4B in 2022 to an actualized $1B today.Future Plans: The capital will go towards enhancing features and developing a decentralized metaverse for mobile devices, which is expected to launch in 2025. Updates to some of its other tools are also planned.Bankless Take:While the “metaverse” stood out as a central narrative last cycle, we have yet to see it return to those heights this time around. That being said, the ability to build one’s own metaverse for friends or a community remains an intriguing prospect, evident from the reported 5.7M users and >1K unique experiences developed via The Sandbox since its Alpha release last November. With projections that the metaverse may add $5T to the global economy by 2030, this forever sought-after virtual land continues to draw investment, especially from the Web3 angle that believes digital ownership via blockchains would be a way for users, not just providers like Minecraft or Roblox, to share these riches. Written by David C 338 Articles • View all David is a writer/analyst at Bankless. Prior to joining Bankless, he worked for a series of early-stage crypto startups and on grants from the Ethereum, Solana, and Urbit Foundations. He graduated from Skidmore College in New York. He currently lives in the Midwest and enjoys NFTs, but no longer participates in them.