Wedbush Securities Advises The Sandbox on Its $93M Capital Raise Led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 to Grow Its Open NFT Metaverse

SoftBank Vision Fund 2 Leads Fundraising Round with Animoca Brands and Other Investors Joining The Round to Support The Sandbox’s Non-Fungible Token-Based Entertainment Metaverse

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wedbush Securities, one of the nation’s leading independent financial services providers, is pleased to announce that its client, The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands and the leading open NFT metaverse platform, has successfully raised US$93M in its Series B fundraising round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The investment will enable The Sandbox team to scale the platform’s growth as a prime entertainment destination where brands, IPs, and celebrities can engage with their fans through virtual experiences including games, live performances, and social experiences.

Wedbush Securities acted as exclusive placement agent and financial advisor for The Sandbox, and Rubicon Law provided legal counsel to The Sandbox.

Matthew Doull, co-head of Technology Investment Banking at Wedbush, said: “We are delighted to have advised The Sandbox and its visionary founders, Arthur and Sebastien, on this landmark transaction. We’ve seen an explosion of innovation in blockchain gaming, and the Wedbush team has unrivaled expertise advising clients at the intersection of video gaming and NFTs.”

“This investment round led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 will help scale up our growth strategy, operations, and player acquisition in The Sandbox ecosystem while sending a clear statement that the world’s most innovative fund believes in Web3 and decentralization as the next major trend,” said Sebastien Borget, COO and Co-Founder of The Sandbox. “Adding new strategic partners such as Liberty City Ventures and Galaxy Interactive will also benefit The Sandbox’s global reach and expand the network of brands, IPs, and gaming studios interested in entering an open metaverse focused on a player-owned economy and user-generated content.”

NFTs are changing the way we live, work, create, play, and earn in virtual worlds, empowering players and creating value—and new jobs—in the metaverse. In this era of new possibilities, The Sandbox is emerging as the main NFT-based, open metaverse, where the content, economy and even governance will be in the hands of the players, creators, and users who contribute to this virtual world.

About Wedbush Securities

Wedbush Securities is the largest subsidiary of Wedbush Financial Services. Since its founding in 1955, Wedbush has been a leader in the financial services industry, providing our clients, both private and institutional, with a wide range of securities brokerage, wealth management, and investment banking services. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California with 100 registered offices and nearly 900 colleagues, the firm focuses on client service and financial safety, innovation, and the utilization of advanced technology.

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About The Sandbox

The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is one of the decentralized virtual worlds that has been fueling the recent growth of virtual real-estate demand having partnered with major IPs and brands including Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, Deadmau5, Atari, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Care Bears, The Smurfs, Shaun the Sheep, and Binance. Building on existing The Sandbox IP that has more than 40 million global installs on mobile, The Sandbox is a metaverse that offers players and creators a decentralized and intuitive platform to create immersive 3D worlds and game experiences and to safely store, trade, and monetize their creations. For more information, please visit www.sandbox.game and follow the regular updates on Twitter, Medium and Discord.