Japanese conglomerate Softbank has led a $93 million Series B funding round in metaverse gaming company The Sandbox.

The Sandbox, originally released in 2012, claims it provides a virtual metaverse where players can play, build, and own their own virtual experiences, which can then be monetized via non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

An NFT is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger - or a blockchain - that certifies the uniqueness of a digital asset.

The Hong Kong-based gaming firm uses the Ethereum blockchain to power these NFT transactions.

Other investors in the round included True Global Ventures, Liberty City Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Kingsway Capital, Blue Pool Capital, LG Technology Ventures, Alpaca VC, Graticule Asset Management Asia, Com2uS, executives at GoldenTree Asset Management, Nokota, Sun Hung Kai & Co, Sound Ventures, Red Beard Ventures, SCB 10X, Polygon Studios, Samsung Next, Double Down Partners, StakeFish, SterlingVC, and HodlCo.

The firm claims to have formed intellectual property partnerships with over 165 brands, including rapper Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, and CryptoKitties.

The Sandbox did not disclose the valuation used in the funding round and said it will use the investment to scale its platform’s growth.

However, the Sandbox coin - SAND - the cryptocurrency the firm uses to fuel its infrastructure has a market capitalisation of around $2.46 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

The Sandbox is majority-owned by US blockchain gaming firm Animoca brands, which acquired The Sandbox in 2018.

Softbank has been active in terms of making investments in the NFT space this year. In September, it led a $680 million funding round in French digital football card-trading company Sorare.

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