SoftBank leads $93M Series B round to support Sandbox NFT-based metaverse

Metaverse startup The Sandbox has closed a $93 million Series B funding round led by SoftBank, in which Animoca Brands, Galaxy Interactive, True Global Ventures, Liberty City Ventures, and other investors took part. This is the first investment in crypto by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

Sandbox saw significant growth in 2021

The Sandbox will use the funds to speed up development of its open metaverse, involving more IPs and brands and supporting more creators. The Sandbox saw significant growth this year. It generated over $144 million in lifetime gross merchandise value with more than 500,000 registered wallets and 12,000 unique virtual LAND owners.

Expanding beyond gaming

The Sandbox ecosystem is growing rapidly, creating game makers, virtual architects, NFT creators, and other new digital jobs, but not only. The platform is expanding into virtual shows, fashion, architecture, museums, art galleries, and more.

How The Sandbox works

The Sandbox is an Ethereum-based (ETH/USD) platform that allows players to create and control their own virtual world. They can own NFTs like plots of land to build on. According to CoinMarketCap, their token SAND has a $2.46 billion market cap.

Ownership and partnerships

Animoca Brands holds the majority share in Sandbox. The Hong Kong-based gaming company was one of the earliest metaverse backers.

The Sandbox has partnerships with AMC TV series The Walking Dead, rapper Snoop Dogg, children’s cartoons The Smurfs and Care Bears, NFT collection CryptoKitties, and gaming brand Atari according to a Sandbox press release.

Sebastien Borget, COO and Co-Founder of The Sandbox, commented: