Animoca Brands, the company driving digital property rights, today announced it has executed a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) to make a strategic investment in Igloo, Inc., the parent company of Pudgy Penguins.
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The investment expresses Animoca Brands’ belief in the transformative power of consumer crypto and its confidence in the growth potential of Pudgy Penguins, one of the leading NFT-based intellectual properties, and in Abstract, the blockchain that Igloo, Inc. contributes to and that is characterized by its emphasis on direct distribution for consumer crypto.
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Animoca Brands’ subsidiaries The Sandbox and Animoca Brands Japan also participated in the investment in Igloo, Inc. alongside Animoca Brands.
Animoca Brands is committed to empowering intellectual property rights in the NFT and gaming sectors. The Pudgy Penguins project, with its unique IP rights agreement with NFT holders, exemplifies this potential. Under the leadership of Luca Schnetzler, Pudgy Penguins has demonstrated that Web3 intellectual property can be brought to the real world through a variety of physical merchandise representing the source NFT, positioning the project as a frontrunner in the consumer crypto market.
Igloo, Inc. and Cube Labs, a subsidiary of Igloo, Inc., recently announced a strategic initiative to contribute to Abstract, a highly scalable, secure, consumer-centric Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network built to provide the robust infrastructure for consumer crypto applications. Abstract aims to optimize the consumer experience by offering simple onboarding, top-tier applications, and a highly cohesive ecosystem. Animoca Brands’ investment will help to drive community engagement through initiatives that promote cross-community collaboration and participation between Abstract and Animoca Brands’ Mocaverse, which is building a network of networks with a single login entry point where partners can co-build different consumer applications for Web3 onboarding.
Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “Our investment in Pudgy Penguins is not only a financial commitment but also reflects our belief in the transformative power of intellectual property rights. Given Luca’s strong track record in innovation and execution, we’re thrilled to support him and his team as they continue to push the envelope and create engaging user experiences for one of the most recognizable brands in the world of Web3.”
Luca Schnetzler, CEO of Pudgy Penguins, added: “This investment from Animoca Brands is a testament to our vision and commitment to building a thriving ecosystem. It will continue to help us create the largest onchain community and power the next wave of consumer crypto.”
About Igloo, Inc
Igloo, Inc. is a collection of companies, the largest of which is Pudgy Penguins. Founded in 2024, the company is headquartered in Miami, Florida. Millions of people use its wide range of popular crypto-native products and platforms each day, from Pudgy Penguins®, Pudgy World™, OverpassIP™, and more.
About Pudgy Penguins
Pudgy Penguins is dedicated to making Web3 accessible to everyone by creating innovative products that enable seamless onboarding. Their focus on community empowerment and building brand awareness has made them the leading IP in the Web3 space while also disrupting the traditional IP sphere. They’re committed to impacting the everyday consumer and shaping the future of IP, Web3, and beyond.
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands (ACN: 122 921 813), a Deloitte Tech Fast winner, a Fortune Crypto 40 company, one of the Top 50 Blockchain Game Companies 2024, and one of the Financial Times’ High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2023, is a Web3 leader that leverages blockchain to deliver digital property rights to consumers around the world to help to establish the open metaverse.
