GAMEE, the mobile gaming platform behind the viral game WatBird and subsidiary of Animoca Brands, has on Wednesday announced it has received an investment from Pantera Capital (Pantera).
Animoca Brands said in a statement that GAMEE will use the funds to expand its presence on The Open Network (TON), via WatBird, the viral game Telegram Mini App developed by GAMEE that connects and onboards Telegram users to Web3 through fun and meme-inspired gameplay.
According to the statement, GAMEE is working to amplify its presence on the TON ecosystem by integrating TON-based digital assets, including tokens and NFTs, into GAMEE’s gaming experiences on Telegram.
With over 4 million GAMEE users who have already connected their TON Wallets to WatBird, GAMEE is working to attract additional gaming and Web3 communities, GameFi investors, and Telegram users to the TON ecosystem through community-driven market activations on GAMEE’s Telegram Mini App.
The investment from Pantera follows a recent investment GAMEE received from TON Ventures.
It is noted that Pantera is the first institutional investment firm in the United States focused exclusively on blockchain and currently manages over $5 billion in assets.
In a recent letter, Pantera outlined its conviction in the potential of the TON ecosystem, highlighting it as the largest investment in the company’s history.
GAMEE, one of the leading gaming platforms on Telegram, is one of Pantera’s first investments within the TON ecosystem.
GAMEE’s diverse selection of over 100 games includes WatBird, the viral game that has attracted a user base of 3 million daily active players.
“Pantera Capital’s investment in GAMEE represents a significant vote of confidence in our vision to seamlessly integrate Web3 mechanics into the gaming experiences we’ve cultivated for our community of 90 million gamers,
“This support will help us accelerate our mission to strengthen the community’s engagement with the TON ecosystem,” said Bozena Rezab, Co-founder of GAMEE.
Cosmo Jiang, portfolio manager at Pantera, said they are excited to be able to support the growth of applications within the TON ecosystem.
“We have been impressed by the traction that GAMEE has found with its Telegram Mini App games and look forward to seeing it expand its presence on TON,” he added.
GAMEE was founded in 2015 and has been a subsidiary of Animoca Brands since 2020.
GAMEE is a high-engagement mobile gaming platform focused on onboarding a mass gaming audience to Web3.
It has over 90 million registered users and has served over 10 billion gameplay sessions across multiple ecosystems.
Its WatBird games and WatPoint mining have collectively onboarded 4 million user wallets into the TON ecosystem.
The company has partnered with over 40 major Web3 communities including Mocaverse, TON, Notcoin, Decentraland, The Sandbox, Cool Cats, and others.
Pantera Capital is the first institutional investment firm focused exclusively on bitcoin, other digital currencies, and companies in the blockchain tech ecosystem.
The firm launched the first cryptocurrency fund in the United States when bitcoin was at $65/BTC in 2013.
It subsequently launched the first exclusively blockchain venture fund.
In 2017, Pantera was the first firm to offer an early-stage token fund.
The firm manages over $5 billion across three strategies – passive, hedge, and venture.
Animoca Brands’ subsidiary GAMEE receives investment from TON Ventures