Solana Gaming Platform MonkeyBall raises $3m From Crypto’s Finest
[PRESS RELEASE – Tel Aviv, Israel, 21st October 2021]
Play-to-earn gaming platform MonkeyBall has confirmed the conclusion of its recent funding round, during which it managed to raise over $3 million from a slew of venture and angel investors.
Participants in the round include an assortment of high-profile firms such as Solana Capital, Republic, NFX, iAngels, Longhash, CMS, Jump Capital, Youbi, Morningstar Ventures, Banter Capital, Ascentive Assets, MarketAcross, Node Capital, ZBS Capital, Metaversal, Collider, BFF and 6th Man Ventures.
“We are truly excited to unveil this amazing roster of investors who are supporting MonkeyBall,” enthused Oren Langberg, the platform’s Head of Marketing.
“Play-to-earn is an exciting and quickly growing application for blockchain and NFTs, but it’s not easy to find games with great production quality. The first play-to-earn game to truly become mainstream is still in the future, and we are hard at work to realize that future for MonkeyBall.”
DraftKings’ Shalom Mckenzie concurred that “Play-to-earn games are a revolution in how gamers interface with the virtual world,” predicting that “gaming and NFTs will be the first true mass appeal application of blockchain; all that is missing is to actually make a game that would stand tall among AAA titles. I believe the Monkey Ball team has what it takes to get there.”
In addition to the aforementioned VC companies, angel investors who pledged capital included Shalom Meckenzie; Livermore founder Noam Lanir; IronSource co-founder Tamir Carmi; founders from Dafabet; Simplex CEO Nimrod Lehavi; eToro co-founder Yoni Assia; Joe Mccann, Yenwen Feng, Shao-Kang Lee, co-founders of Perpetual Protocol, and Coti CEO Shahaf Bar-Geffen, who will serve as MonkeyBall’s Chairman.
A fast-paced, play-to-earn arcade soccer game, MonkeyBall sees players compete in games featuring teams of larger-than-life monkeys. Tokens are rewarded for each victory, and there are additional earning opportunities for those who buy stadiums and host matches.
Notable for its high production value and rich gaming experience, MonkeyBall is developed on the Unity game engine, meaning it can be deployed on both Desktop and Mobile. The colorful game is the brainchild of a team comprising veterans of both the crypto and gaming sectors.
Gigi Levi of NFX said, “As an early-stage investor in some of the most successful mobile/casual gaming start-ups in the world, we at NFX have been looking at the booming play-to-earn market for a while now. We believe that the space will only continue to grow, and that the winners will be those teams that combine the best of blockchain know-how with amazing game-design capabilities – that know how to utilize and unite the best of both blockchain and “traditional” gaming sectors. MonkeyBall is the best one we’ve seen yet!’
About Monkey Ball
Monkey Ball is a Solana-based play-to-earn soccer game, a kind of FIFA Street and Final Fantasy rolled into one fun monkey-themed game. Players can earn tokens by winning, hosting matches or even cheering other matches. The release offers a rich gaming experience and is being developed on Unity, making it cross-platform with Desktop and Mobile.
