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A Sydney-based company that helps the likes of TikTok and GameStop integrate non-fungible token (NFT) trading has raised US$200 million ($273 million) in a Series C raise led by Singaporean investment group Temasek.
Founded by Alex Connolly and brothers James and Robbie Ferguson in 2018, Immutable is proving itself as indominable in the blockchain-driven Web3 space with its latest valuation of US$2.5 billion ($3.4 billion), with investments from leading blockchain game juggernaut Animoca Brands and China's Tencent, the owner of WeChat.
The company - formerly known as Fuel Games - is responsible for one of the world's largest blockchain games Gods Unchained as well as Guild of Guardians, while its Immutable X technology provides game developers with a platform for users to trade and earn assets in the cryptocurrency Ethereum thanks to NFT integration.
"Immutable is locked in on developing a leading, ambitious, and dependable Web3 ecosystem for a new era of creators that desire scalable results in the world's fastest-growing industry," says Immutable co-founder and CEO James Ferguson.
"Our investment partners understand the power and potential of the Immutable X platform and will play an integral role in this next phase of our growth. We are also excited to welcome new executive team members who will help execute on our aggressive business and growth plans."
Immutable plans to use the capital to invest further in the platform, fuel global expansion and scale its gaming studios, growing the team from 165 to 200 employees over the next 12 months, mostly in the areas of sales, marketing, engineering and product.
The group will also use the funds to meet the increasing demand for its platform and expand into new verticals, support gaming partners, acquire new customers, and explore merger and acquisition opportunities.
Current companies building on Immutable X include TikTok, OpenSea, Mintable, Ember Sword, Illuvium, GreenPark Sports, and Gary Vee (Vee Friends).
Earlier this month, GameStop announced a strategic partnership with Immutable to launch its new NFT marketplace on the Immutable X platform, including a US$100 million ($137 million) co-fund targeting the advancement of high-impact NFT gaming projects.
The fresh capital comes almost six months after an $82 million raise for Immutable led by BITKRAFT Ventures and King River Capital, with participation from AirTree Ventures, Reinventure, Prosus Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Fabric Ventures, FTX, Apex Capital and VaynerFund.
Many of these backers including AirTree also participated in the latest round, alongside new investors that also included ParaFi Capital, Princeville Capital, Arrington Capital, Mirae Asset and Liberty Global.
"We are at a pivotal point in which the user experience creates a critical path to success for all emerging technologies, and Immutable's platform makes building NFT businesses simple, cost-effective, and extremely easy to monetise," says AirTree Ventures general partner John Henderson.
"We are excited to be on this journey to foster greater adoption of powerful technology that is poised to change the way digital games are played," he says.
Henderson's sentiment was echoed by Animoca co-founder and chairman Yat Siu.
"We're thrilled to double down on our partnership with Immutable. We're excited to explore integrations with Immutable X across Animoca's portfolio of content - bringing next-level scale, security, and liquidity to the next generation of blockchain games," Siu says.
The raise coincides with the appointment of four new c-suite executives, bringing across AirTree venture partner Gillian Findlay into the chief operating officer role, former Lonely Planet exec John Boris as chief growth officer, Justin Hulog formerly of Riot Games as chief studio officer, and former Culture Amp exec Katherine Rau as chief people officer.
Immutable's protocol is powered by StarkWare technology and can process 9,000 transactions per second.
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