Futureverse, an AI and metaverse tech firm, announced Wednesday it has acquired Candy Digital, a digital collectibles platform, even as interest in the sector has waned in recent years.
The deal gives Futureverse access to the latter's sprawling blue-chip brand portfolio, including Major League Baseball, Netflix, and DC Comics.
Those brands "already sit at the intersection of digital and real-world fandom," Aaron McDonald, co-founder and CEO of Futureverse, said in a statement shared with Decrypt.
The acquisition gives Futureverse access to Candy's portfolio of over 4 million digital collectibles and customer base of 1.5 million accounts, with the AI and metaverse firm planning to gradually integrate its tech with Candy's high-profile intellectual property partnerships.
Futureverse claims that bringing in these brands and stories could help it make and "build immersive experiences" to "enhance brand loyalty."
Since its formation in late 2022 and after its $54 million Series A almost two years ago, the company has positioned itself as a leader in developing infrastructure for what it calls the "open metaverse."
The company was last valued in 2023 at roughly $1 billion, making it the first Māori-founded unicorn, according to Callaghan Innovation, New Zealand's government innovation agency.
Candy's content library will be integrated into The Root Network, Futureverse's layer-1 blockchain designed to address intellectual property protection concerns. Futureverse believes the integration could help brands signed with Candy Digital to “safely use” and protect their IP.
‘Natural move’
The acquisition was a "natural move" for Candy Digital, its co-founder and senior vice president Matt Novogratz said in the statement. Futureverse has "patented technology" that has helped define how brands engage people in the digital world, "where most interactions take place," he adds.
But skepticism over the term "metaverse," fueled by the general market decline of NFTs, raises concerns for projects like Futureverse.
From sales of premier collections at a loss, to major tech firms shutting down their NFT projects, to marketplaces shifting to AI instead, those trends in the crypto industry have waned over the years.
Still, Futureverse has expanded rapidly through strategic acquisitions and concurrent partnerships.
Those included IP collaborations with Warner Bros., FIFA, and Reebok, among others. Meanwhile, the company's technology stack includes generative AI tools, blockchain infrastructure, and developer tools for creating interoperable digital experiences.
Candy Digital's investors, including Galaxy Digital, ConsenSys Mesh, and Microsoft, will join the Futureverse ecosystem as part of the acquisition.
The exact financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Decrypt did not immediately receive responses from Futureverse on that matter.
Disclaimer: ConsenSys is one of 22 investors in an editorially independent Decrypt.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair