KKR & Co. is set to become the latest Wall Street name to back metaverse company Animoca Brands Corp, taking the Hong Kong startup’s latest funding round to about US$500 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
The buyout giant is among several investors in talks to join Animoca’s most recent financing at a pre-money valuation of more than $5 billion, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing private information. That adds to the US$359 million first tranche of the funding round, announced in January and involving investors including George Soros and the Winklevoss twins.
Animoca has more than doubled its valuation in just three months, benefiting from the record-beating rush of venture capital into the crypto industry. Executives have told existing investors that they target another funding round as soon as this year that would value Animoca at US$10 billion, two of the people said.
