Kate Irwin

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Crypto gaming studio VOYA Games has raised $5 million in funding in a round led by 1kx and Makers Fund, with RockawayX also investing.



Angel investors Jeff Zirlin, who cofounded Sky Mavis, and Sebastien Borget, cofounder and COO of The SandBox, also participated in the round (Zirlin is also a partner at 1kx).&nbsp;



“Our goal is to build a token ecosystem where games are connected through a shared player economy and culture,” said VOYA Games CEO and founder Oliver Loffler.&nbsp;



The studio plans to use the funding to release its upcoming game, Craft World, and set up the company for its long-term goals.



Craft World is billed as a “casual resource management game” with NFT items, where humans live with dinosaurs after a meteor hit Earth. Players must farm for resources to build structures. The game is currently in its testnet phase, powered by an unspecified blockchain stack, and has seen over <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.angrydynomiteslab.craftworld&amp;hl=en_US">100,000 downloads</a> on Android already. VOYA says more than 240,000 players have registered so far, and it has seen over 1.1 million testnet trades between players.&nbsp;



“They’re building a Web3 gaming ecosystem that prioritizes openness and ownership, treating the game world more like a public good than a closed economy,” said the pseudonymous 1kx partner known as Peter Pan.



The game uses Dyno Coin, a utility token players use to buy NFT items and craft. The team <a href="https://voya-games.gitbook.io/voya-games-litepaper/dyno-coin">says</a> it’s not intended to be a speculative token, and it currently does not appear on crypto exchanges.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcV7V-B1foIg0LQIRgUC4kD8I_doUOR63GtmN0l81MvPgOO5dU6ctBEZYYTh4iikZDsbbUGTuQ7D8FgP-oR-s3hDAcnH_n8NGiK0oWr-xgMXayjfZKfxCqewAari9zU4mndv-CxuQ?key=58OEzndPAZeN-rmaPDPQqw" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A look at the pixelated aesthetic of Craft World.</figcaption></figure>



Craft World is expected to fully launch by the end of this year and will release for iOS, Android, and on the web as a browser game.&nbsp;



VOYA Games was founded in 2023 and is <a href="https://x.com/rev1x0/status/1925180218085454211">tied to</a> Angry Dynomites Lab, which released two pixelated dinosaur NFT collections on Ethereum back in 2022. Loffler previously cofounded Kolibri Games, a mobile gaming studio with games like Idle Miner Tycoon: Gold &amp; Cash, which has over 100 million downloads on Android alone. Kolibri was acquired by Ubisoft in 2020.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcl8s5Z6gXgi0Nkn-K1RAjSs-Fhu40TV_pYi6AjAroIu4YNFvDZYqlN97YcQ0IlZoqBzP3L8h8_8a1TcVmsx4fq-Ebd80PSIGg3RW1mqq7Jflrp4AggIQyQ_EDPd-wVFdWBZ3crpg?key=58OEzndPAZeN-rmaPDPQqw" alt=""/></figure>



Mobile games have continued to make up a significant portion of the crypto gaming market. Game7 research found that mobile games made up 29% of game launches last year, with an additional 20% being Telegram games (which are also primarily mobile games).&nbsp;



That means about half of crypto games have a mobile-first focus, and that doesn’t include the over 26% of crypto games that are launching in a browser, which can also be mobile-first titles.



Mobile games can be cheaper and easier to build than ambitious PC titles while having more opportunities for monetization via quick in-app purchases. They also <a href="https://www.businessofapps.com/data/mobile-games-revenue/#:~:text=Even%20though%20mobile%20games%20still,over%2055%20percent%20in%202023.">generate more revenue</a> than PC titles overall and have more players. Plus, mobile games have the additional advantage that their audiences are more used to monetization strategies like microtransactions and paid tiers of access. 



“Development costs for resource management games are comparatively low. This allows us to release updates quickly and frequently, enabling us to identify and address issues early based on player feedback,” the VOYA Games team <a href="https://voya-games.gitbook.io/voya-games-litepaper/craft-world/why-craft-world">wrote</a> in its litepaper.



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Capital Raise

Crypto gaming startup Voya Games gets $5M for dinosaur-themed crafting sim

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_62698ff4f7f0c" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Belgium-based Venly will use the funds to grow its team, develop Web3 products and establish an accelerator track</li>
 <li>Venly develops blockchain-based products including a digital wallet, NFT tools and marketplace services for companies such as The Sandbox and Shopify</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Belgium-based blockchain technology provider Venly has scooped up 23 million euros ($22.1 million) in a Series A funding round led by Courtside Ventures with the capital intended for the development of its Web3 products.



The latest round raises Venly&#8217;s post-money valuation to over $100 million, a company spokesperson told Blockworks.



Transcend Fund, Coinbase Ventures, Tioga Capital, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Fortino Capital, Plug and Play, LeadBlock Partners, Imec.istart and Alpaca VC also participated, according to a Wednesday press release.



Venly said it will use its fresh capital to research and develop products that would benefits users engaging with Web3 infrastructure, with a focus on gaming and e-commerce.



Previously known as the Arkane Network, Venly develops blockchain-based products including a digital wallet, NFT tools, and marketplace services for companies such as The Sandbox, Aavegotchi, Bondly and Shopify.



The budding company clocks around two and a half million wallet downloads annually and employs around 39 people, the spokesperson said.



Venly said it intends to provide game studios and publishers with a &#8220;no-code&#8221; solution for Web3 users, further its e-commerce NFT (non-fungible token) integrations with Shopify.



&#8220;The problem today is that most developers and end-users have difficulty interacting with Web3 technology,&#8221; Venly CEO Tim Dierckxsens said. &#8220;It needs to be more aligned with Web2 usability, which is exactly what the Venly platform provides.&#8221;



An accelerator track for game studios and Web3 startups will also be established, offering support and investment from the firm&#8217;s team and ecosystem of partners, per the release.



&#8220;The Venly platform provides game developers the ability to easily launch Web3 experiences,&#8221; Kai Bond, partner at Courtside Ventures, said. &#8220;We&#8230;believe that the next huge area of growth in the NFT ecosystem will come from mainstream users interacting with their favorite IP.&#8221;



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