Brinc Closes US$130M Funding, Led by Animoca Brands, to Launch Web 3.0-Focused Accelerators and Fuel Global Expansion

Bolstering Brinc's mission to accelerate humanity's transition to a more sustainable, inclusive and equitable future

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Dec 14, 2021, 21:00 ET

Brinc closes a US$30M Series B round and an additional US$100M to invest in startups through its accelerator programs
The investment reinforces investor and corporate partner confidence in using accelerators to access high-quality venture-capital opportunities in emerging markets
The capital will propel Brinc's growth — enabling global expansion of funds and accelerator programs, in addition to supporting startups and corporates in developing blockchain ventures for sustainability, inclusion and equitability.

HONG KONG, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Brinc, one of the world's leading global venture accelerators, announced today the closing of its US$30 million Series B fundraise and a further US$100 million for startup investments, led by Hong Kong unicorn Animoca Brands, a prolific investor in NFT-centric and Web 3.0 companies.

Manav Gupta, Brinc founder and CEO, with Yat Siu, the executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands.

The new capital will fuel Brinc's global platform expansion across new locations and verticals – allowing more investors and corporate partners to leverage funds, accelerators and bespoke-deal sourcing to access high-quality investment opportunities and emerging technologies in food, health, energy, climate and deep tech. In addition, the capital will enable Brinc's expansion into Web 3.0 including the launch of new blockchain-focused accelerator programs across culture, music, art, collectibles, gaming, decentralized finance and data. Startups and corporates will also be supported in developing blockchain ventures to integrate sustainability, inclusion and equitability into their business models.

This investment represents a strengthening of the growing relationship between Brinc and Animoca Brands, who jointly unveiled the blockchain and NFT accelerator Launchpad Luna earlier this year. Its first cohort is in the process of closing investments into 30 game-changing Web 3.0 companies, supporting founders with tokenization, product development and fundraising. The program's panel of mentors and experts boasts leading names in the blockchain industry, including Binance, Dapper Labs, Enjin, The Sandbox and more. Next year, Brinc and Animoca Brands plan to accelerate over 100 companies through LaunchPad Luna.

Manav Gupta, founder and CEO of Brinc, said: "Web 3.0 technologies have the potential to democratise access to financial services and information, develop a more inclusive digital economy through aligned value capture mechanisms, and transform global business processes, just as the Internet did. Working with Animoca Brands to support leading companies in this space is an incredible opportunity, and underscores an increasing interest in utilising accelerators to access high-quality startup opportunities at scale."

Yat Siu, the executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands, said: "Brinc is the leading name in startup acceleration for emerging markets and technologies, and its sights are set firmly on the future and on sustainability. We share a common vision of an open future with blockchain adoption in traditional and growth sectors, and we look forward to the innovations that will emerge from its acceleration programs."

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Brinc has grown significantly since its 2014 launch — it has invested in and supported the growth of more than 200 startups to date, and currently operates 18 multi-disciplinary acceleration programs across seven offices around the world. In 2020, founder Manav Gupta announced Brinc's mission to invest in more than 1,000 startups that are developing solutions to combat climate change and build a more inclusive and equitable society within the next five years.

At the core of Brinc's business is the belief the world's toughest challenges can be solved by entrepreneurs, whom it calls "game changers." Brinc's portfolio contributes to improving Food and Water Security, Healthcare, Climate Change, Urbanization, Connectivity, Transportation and Financial Inclusion.

Applications for Brinc's spring 2022 acceleration program are now open. Interested startups can apply here.

Interested in joining the growing Brinc family? Apply for one of our open positions and partnership opportunities.

About Brinc

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Brinc is a leader in global venture acceleration, operating 18 multidisciplinary accelerator programs in 7 countries. Brinc accelerates startups focused on Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, connected hardware, drones, robotics, clean energy and food technology all within a sustainability mandate.

Brinc has a portfolio of 200+ companies with founders from over 35 countries. Brinc also supports corporations with investment services, distributed innovation strategies, sourcing of new startups and technologies, as well as venture building Web 3.0 enabled businesses. Global corporations (Manulife, Huawei, Schneider Electric, Puma, Batelco, Merck, Omantel, Linrun Group, Zhihui Park), Government Organizations (Hong Kong Science Park, NEOM, MBRIF, Guangdong Soft-tech Park), Universities (HK City University, National University of Singapore) and leading venture funds (Artesian, LeverVC, Tamkeen, EDB) have all run programs with Brinc over the years. In 2021 Brinc launched BrincArtesian, a Singapore fund manager, to provide LPs access to emerging market Series A+ co-investment opportunities.

Learn more at www.brinc.io and Brinc's commitment to developing sustainable systems.

About Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands, ranked in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2021, is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification. It develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including the REVV token and SAND token; original games including The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes; and products utilizing popular intellectual properties including Formula 1^®, Disney, WWE, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Doraemon. The company has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Bondly, and Lympo. Animoca Brands has a growing portfolio of more than 100 investments in NFT-related companies and decentralized projects that are contributing to building the open metaverse, including Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs (NBA Top Shot), Bitski, Harmony, Alien Worlds, Star Atlas, and others. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on Twitter or Facebook.