Twitch, Sky Mavis founders join Philippine gaming firm’s $3.5m round

AcadArena, a Philippine gaming startup that builds communities and provides scholarships for gamers, has raised US$3.5 million in a round that saw participation from the founders of game-streaming giant Twitch and Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis.

Venture funds Hashed and 1KX led the round, according to a statement.

Photo credit: AcadArena

Since its establishment in 2019, AcadArena has focused on creating online hubs for Southeast Asian gamers and educating them about the metaverse. It also provides financial help and play-to-earn scholarships to help student gamers fund their education.

AcadArena was founded by Ariane Lim (co-CEO), Kevin Hoang (co-CEO), and Justin Banusing (COO). In September, the company raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding led by startup accelerator Iterative.

AcadArena plans to use the new capital to acquire more play-to-earn assets, forge new partnerships, and empower more student communities across the region.

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“As play-to-earn revolutionizes the ownership model of games, we see guilds becoming an increasingly critical part of the emerging metaverse economy,” says 1KX co-founder Lasse Clausen. “We believe that player talent – not capital – will be the key resource across play-to-earn games.”