SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Metatheory, a technology-driven entertainment company founded by Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, today announced a $24 million Series A Round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with cryptocurrency firms Pantera Capital and FTX Ventures participating in the round, in addition to Breyer Capital, Merit Circle, Recharge Thematic Ventures, Dragonfly Capital Partners, Daedalus, Sfermion, and Global Coin Research. Metatheory, which launched in Q3 last year, is focused on building Web3 games and virtual worlds imagined across innovative new story franchise IPs.
“Building immersive digital experiences has always been a passion of mine, and after stepping away from Twitch to explore what’s next in the industry, I truly believe blockchain will open the door to even more possibilities and have a major impact in the gaming, storytelling and community building space,” said Kevin Lin, CEO of Metatheory. “At Metatheory, we’ve built a team of industry vets who are focused on embracing blockchain across multiple media categories with a focus on elevating standards of customer experience and shared ownership.”
Metatheory is leveraging the gaming space as its first creative canvas into the Web3 world, with a heavy focus on building franchises with strong IP that live beyond the games themselves.
“Metatheory is redefining how games and stories are told from the bottom up using web3 primitives, and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with CEO Kevin Lin, a proven leader and company builder,” said Jonathan Lai, Andreessen Horowitz.
“Kevin Lin is one of the most experienced founders in creating digital communities and has done so already with the DuskBreakers NFT collection. We’re thrilled to support him in taking the project to the next stage as a live game,” said Amy Wu, head of ventures and commercial, FTX Ventures.
“We strongly believe in Kevin Lin’s vision for the future gaming and creating franchise IP that will live beyond its gaming roots and expand into multi-platform universes,” said Paul Veradittakit, General Partner at Pantera Capital. “Kevin’s successful track record combined with the experienced and talented team behind Metatheory, has us really excited to partner on this opportunity to push forward on Web3-enabled gaming.”
Metatheory’s first game franchise DuskBreakers, which was released in December 2021 with world art designed by Geersart, former Lead Illustrator at Twitch, is a sci-fi inspired metaverse and gaming experience powered by blockchain. DuskBreakers launched with an innovative free-to-play “Play-to-Mint” game that led to a sellout of 10,000 NFTS (the Genesis DuskBreakers) in just six days.
The genesis NFTs each represent one of the first 10,000 recruited “Breakers” who spend their days exploring a massive, dormant alien spaceship – “The Dusk” – hovering above the earth. On the Dusk, Breakers seek valuable “Duskite” materials while fending off the extraterrestrial creatures roaming the ship. The choices the Breakers make as a community will irrevocably change the course of history across an exciting new alternate universe, unfolding across NFTs, comics, animations, and video games.
In January 2022, Metatheory released DuskBreakers second free-to-play minigame, “Beast Battler,” centered around boss battling in the same environment as the first minigame. Additional NFT drops, games and content are set to release throughout the year and beyond, with a full free-to-play game with Play-and-Earn mechanics scheduled for launch in Q4.
Metatheory is founded by successful serial gaming and tech entrepreneurs including Twitch Co-Founder Kevin Lin who serves as CEO; joined by co-founders David Barthwell and JT Gleason. Founding members include Art Director Darren Geers, COO Adam Bao, VP of Game Development Nick Fotheringam, VP of External Creative Nelson Wang, and three-time Emmy winner Bernie Su, who serves as Chief Content Officer. Metatheory’s team of 40+ employees consists of industry veterans ranging from artists, writers, producers, game developers, engineers, and seasoned community developers.
About Metatheory
Founded in 2021, Metatheory is a technology-driven entertainment company building Web3 games and virtual worlds imagined across innovative new story franchise IPs. The company was founded by successful serial gaming and tech entrepreneurs including Twitch Co-Founder Kevin Lin, joined by co-founders David Barthwell and JT Gleason. Founding members include Art Director Darren Geers, COO Adam Bao, VP of Game Development Nick Fotheringam, Nelson Wang, and three-time Emmy winning producer Bernie Su.
About Andreessen Horowitz
Founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz (known as “a16z”) is a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, California, that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology.
About Pantera Capital
Pantera Capital is the first institutional investment firm focused exclusively on bitcoin, other digital currencies, and companies in the blockchain tech ecosystem. Pantera launched the first cryptocurrency fund in the United States when bitcoin was at $65/BTC in 2013. The firm subsequently launched the first exclusively-blockchain venture fund. In 2017, Pantera was the first firm to offer an early-stage token fund. Pantera Bitcoin Fund has returned over 57,500% in eight years and has returned billions to its investors. Pantera manages $5bn across three strategies – passive, hedge, and venture – exclusively focused on blockchain.
About FTX Ventures
FTX Ventures is a multi-stage venture capital fund focused on supporting the world’s best teams building in crypto and web3. The fund provides flexible funding and strategic support from FTX and its network of global partners. FTX Ventures currently manages $2B in AUM.
