ASX Release
15 October 2018
Animoca Brands partners with Mind Fund and Helix, the dedicated Hedera Hashgraph accelerator
Highlights:
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Animoca Brands strategically partners with Mind Fund, a leading venture capital company, and Helix, an accelerator by Mind Fund in partnership with Hedera Hashgraph (Hedera recently raised US$124 million)
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Mind Fund will subscribe to US$1 million (approximately A$1.4 million) worth of Animoca Brands shares, priced at A$0.10 per share
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Upon commencement of the first batch of the Helix Accelerator programme in January 2019, Mind Fund will have a 90-day option to purchase an additional US$100,000 (approximately A$140,000) worth of Animoca Brands shares, at a price per share of A$0.15
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Hedera provides distributed ledger technology that offers very high transactions per second needed to scale blockchain networks and applications
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Animoca Brands, Mind Fund, and Hedera share a common vision of a decentralised future with blockchain platforms that are highly scalable, efficient, fast, and that can attract the first hundreds of millions of consumers to blockchain products
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Helix will invest a minimum of US$100,000 (approximately A$140,000) in the upcoming token sale for the blockchain version of The Sandbox, on the condition that the game offers compatibility with Hedera Hashgraph. The Sandbox is developed by Pixowl, which was recently acquired by Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (ASX:AB1, the “Company”) is pleased to advise that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (the “MOU”) with Mind Fund Group Ltd (“Mind Fund”), a Hong Kong-based leading venture capital company, and Helix Accelerator Limited (“Helix”), an accelerator by Mind Fund in partnership with Hedera Hashgraph LLC ("Hedera"), to establish a partnership and business collaboration to co-develop and co-invest in blockchain games and applications.
Mind Fund is a Hong Kong-based venture capital company that has invested in several companies in the United States and Asia. Most notably, Mind Fund is an investor in Bytedance, one of the most valuable startup companies in the world with a valuation of US$75 billion as of August 2018, and is an investor in Hedera. Mind Fund also has an institutional partnership with Tokyo and San Francisco-based Digital Garage (TYO:4819) to collaborate and co-invest in a Global Incubation Stream of world-class entrepreneurial companies.
Mind Fund partnered with Hedera to set up Helix. Hedera aims to create a new commerce network based on the Hashgraph Consensus technology, a new distributed public ledger that can function faster, more securely, and on a significantly larger scale than current blockchain technology. Earlier in 2018, Hedera raised US$124 million from institutional investors via a simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT) that was offered to Mind Fund and other institutional and accredited investors.
Under the MOU, Helix agrees to invest a minimum of US$100,000 (approximately A$140,000) in the upcoming token sale for the blockchain version of The Sandbox, on the condition that the game offers compatibility with Hedera Hashgraph. The Sandbox is developed by Pixowl, a company recently acquired by Animoca Brands (see ASX announcement of 27 August 2018).
Mind Fund investment into Animoca Brands
Under the MOU, Mind Fund agrees to subscribe (directly or via an affiliate) to US$1 million (approximately A$1.4 million) worth of Animoca Brands shares, priced at A$0.10 per share.
The number of Animoca Brands shares to be issued will be calculated as the Australian dollar equivalent of US$1 million divided by a deemed issue price of A$0.10 per share.
Additionally, upon commencement of the Helix Accelerator programme in January 2019, Mind Fund will also have a 90-day option to purchase an additional US$100,000 (approximately A$140,000) of Animoca Brands shares at a price per share of A$0.15.
The Company intends to issue the shares utilising its existing placement capacity under ASX Listing Rule 7.1.
Management commentary
Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “One of the biggest challenges facing blockchain networks is the current limit in transaction volume and latency. Hedera Hashgraph's performance tests show throughput of 50,000 transactions per second, and up to ten times that number under certain conditions. Partnering with Helix and Mind Fund will significantly help Animoca Brands to scale our blockchain products, allowing us to create a new generation of distributed games and applications that will have powerful consumer appeal.”
Adam Lindemann, the group CEO of Mind Fund, commented: ”We believe that creative, engaging, and appealing games can attract the first hundreds of millions of users to the blockchain. This will only be possible with the advent of platforms that are fast, efficient, hassle-free, secure, and highly scalable. We believe that Hedera can provide such a platform. By partnering with and investing in Animoca Brands we intend to augment our significant multi-million dollar prior investments in Hedera Hashgraph itself and in Helix, an accelerator we formed in partnership with Hedera Hashgraph to incubate teams building DApps on Hashgraph. Animoca Brands has some of the best technologists and visionaries in the world; together, we will build the future of blockchain gaming.”
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About Mind Fund
Mind Fund Group Ltd, or Mind Fund, is a Hong Kong-based venture capital company that invests and partners with world-class entrepreneurs to help them build the next wave of technology companies. Mind Fund has invested in several companies in the United States and Asia including Bytedance, one of the world’s most valuable startups, and Hedera Hashgraph, a next-generation distributed ledger company. Mind Fund has an institutional partnership with Tokyo and San Francisco-based Digital Garage (TYO:4819) to collaborate and co-invest in a “Global Incubation Stream” of entrepreneurial companies. For more information, see www.mindfund.com.
About Helix Accelerator
Helix Accelerator Limited, or Helix, is a collaboration between Mind Fund and Hedera Hashgraph, and the first and only accelerator for developers and entrepreneurs building on the Hedera Hashgraph platform. During its 10-week acceleration programme starting in January 2019, Helix will provide financial, intellectual and network support to founders and their companies, and guide them as they build a new class of decentralized applications on the Hashgraph consensus protocol. For more information see www.helixaccelerator.com.
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands (ASX: AB1) leverages gamification, blockchain, and artificial intelligence technologies to develop and publish a broad portfolio of mobile products including games such as The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes as well as products based on popular intellectual properties such as Garfield, Thomas & Friends™, Ever After High and Doraemon. Animoca Brands is the exclusive China distributor of CryptoKitties. The Company is based in Hong Kong, Canada, and Finland. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or get updates by following Animoca Brands on Facebook, Twitter or Google +.