The word Animoca doesn’t exactly slip off the tongue when speaking English. Is it Japanese? Is it a type of sweet snack? Is it even a trendy type of coffee?
According to Robby Yung, the London-based CEO of Web3 investment behemoth Animoca Brands, it is neither of these things but rather a portmanteau that “connects animation and mobile communication.”
That means a focus on games and creating a Web3 environment that Animoca clearly wants to dominate. Whatever it means to outsiders, and however it sounds, it probably makes no difference to the company.
Animoca Brands has moved on significantly since its formation more than a decade ago in Hong Kong by Yat Siu and David Kim. In recent years, it has made no bones about its strategy of being a metaverse company. Even after the metaverse “narrative” was widely seen to have failed as the hype died down after the COVID-19 pandemic.
After moderating Yung on a panel at a House of Block event at London’s Hurlingham Club in June, Magazine caught up with him more formally to find out about his journey to date and the very interesting evolution of Animoca Brands, a company whose journey has not been straightforward at all.
Animoca Brands is still focused on building metaverses and gradually onboarding companies by investing in them. It is a market maker helping to launch and market coins. The intention is to bring all of these different projects into Animoca Brands’ so-called “Mocaverse.”
“Over time, we want to bring all our vested companies into the Mocaverse, and right now, it’s really busy. We’re doing lots of stuff and setting up exciting partnerships,” he says. “Our Moca token launched four weeks ago, and there’s been huge interest. Right now, our community is growing, and we’re feeding off that community’s enthusiasm.”
Animoca has a stable of big crypto brands
Some of those investments are very well-known. Jung says that its…
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