Animoca’s thrilling crypto success began with a delisting

More: Ajaib’s Bored Ape NFT mascot and Sequoia’s $850 million SEA fund [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter Hello {NAME} Delisting from public markets generally does not bode well for a company. A firm usually delists because it’s bankrupt, nearly bankrupt, or can't meet the exchange's minimum financial requirements, but that wasn’t the case for Animoca Brands. The Hong Kong-based firm had begun dipping its toes in the crypto space, and, in 2019, led a funding round for Axie Infinity developer, Sky Mavis. Animoca topped that up with an investment for the intellectual property rights to build resources for sports-based blockchain games and the development of non-fungible tokens. But the deeper Animoca went into the crypto world, the louder the alarm bells rang at the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). In March 2020, ASX officially delisted Animoca, whose life as a public firm had been largely disappointing, with its share price having fallen 95% from its peak. However, away from the public eye, Animoca got the breathing room it needed to supercharge its blockchain-fueled ambitions. “It ended up being a blessing in disguise,” Yat Siu, the firm’s co-founder and executive chairman, tells Tech in Asia. In today’s premium story, my colleague, Deepti, charts Animoca’s ascent from being a little-known gaming company to one of the most prolific blockchain investment firms in the world. She also draws parallels between Animoca’s investment strategy and those of Tencent and SoftBank. Also, if you’re an entrepreneur looking for funding, [fill out this form]( to get your company featured on our list of fundraising startups. -- Shravanth  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIG STORY [Animoca’s meteoric rise from zombie to $5b Web3 empire]( Animoca wasn’t going anywhere just a few years ago. Then it became a multi-billion-dollar crypto investor that’s closing deals at a stunning clip. ---------------------------------------------------------------  TIA SCHOOL For first-time founders, raising capital can be a complicated and intimidating process. But it doesn't have to be! Tech in Asia School's inaugural Fundraising Program is here to help early-stage founders build a compelling pitch, master the fundraising process, and cut through the noise. Learn from two of the region's best-in-class founders Nipun Mehra, Founder & CEO, Ula as well as Yiping Goh, Partner at Quest Ventures - who'll impart their expertise and tips to our Fundraising cohort. Nipun, a master fundraiser, successfully raised over $140M for his Indonesian e-commerce startup in just two years, and also secured the first ever investment from Jeff Bezos’s fund into a SEA startup. 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[Sequoia Capital launches $850m dedicated fund for SEA]( In total, the VC firm raised US$2.9 billion across a set of funds for startups in India and Southeast Asia. [Indonesia’s Ajaib introduces Bored Ape NFT as mascot]( The company said that the digital ambassador was created to make the public aware of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. [CoachHub raises $200m, plans APAC expansion]( The company aims to double its regional staff by year end from its current headcount of 50. [B2B marketplace scores Pakistan’s largest series A with $37m raise]( The round pushes Dastgyr’s total funding raised to over US$40 million. ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING You can also check out a curated list of trending tech events [over here](. - *Event* [Fintech Forum]( on July 7 Join us at this year's Fintech Forum, hosted by Tech in Asia and Amazon Web Services (AWS). 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