Blockchain game developer Sky Mavis gets $1.5m in Animoca Brands-led round

Vietnamese startup Sky Mavis, parent of blockchain-based game Axie Infinity, has secured US$1.5 million in a funding round led by game developer and publisher Animoca Brands.

The round saw participation from 500 Startups and blockchain-focused firms Hashed, Pangea Blockchain Fund, and ConsenSys.

The Axie team / Photo credit: Sky Mavis

Sky Mavis plans to use the new funds to expand the Axie Infinity team and speed up the development of new features for the game. It will also use part of the investment to build practical blockchain-based applications for more users.

The company claims that Axie Infinity has become one of the highest-grossing blockchain games released, citing data from decentralized app ranking services DappRadar and Dapp. Since its launch in May 2018, Sky Mavis has released two games in the Axie universe. 

The company also looks to launch a mobile app in the first half of 2020 that will introduce a “play to earn” scheme and feature a “competitive and immersive gameplay.”

Earlier this year, Canada-based Dapper Labs announced that it will be working with Taiwanese blockchain accelerator AppWorks to help bring blockchain technology to the gaming and music landscape in Asia.

DapperLabs, which raised US$11 million last month in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund, is the company behind blockchain game CryptoKitties. It also concurrently announced the release of Flow, its new blockchain for decentralized apps in gaming, culture, and entertainment.