Futureverse Acquires Candy Digital, Taps DC Comics and Netflix IP to Boost Metaverse Strategy

Futureverse, an AI and metaverse tech agency, introduced Wednesday it has acquired Sweet Digital, a digital collectibles platform, whilst curiosity within the sector has waned lately.

The deal provides Futureverse entry to the latter’s sprawling blue-chip model portfolio, together with Main League Baseball, Netflix, and DC Comics.

These manufacturers “already sit on the intersection of digital and real-world fandom,” Aaron McDonald, co-founder and CEO of Futureverse, mentioned in an announcement shared with Decrypt.

The acquisition provides Futureverse entry to Sweet’s portfolio of over 4 million digital collectibles and buyer base of 1.5 million accounts, with the AI and metaverse agency planning to step by step combine its tech with Sweet’s high-profile mental property partnerships.

Futureverse claims that bringing in these manufacturers and tales may assist it make and “construct immersive experiences” to “improve model loyalty.”

Since its formation in late 2022 and after its $54 million Sequence A nearly two years in the past, the corporate has positioned itself as a pacesetter in growing infrastructure for what it calls the “open metaverse.”

The corporate was final valued in 2023 at roughly $1 billion, making it the primary Māori-founded unicorn, according to Callaghan Innovation, New Zealand’s authorities innovation company.

Sweet’s content material library will likely be built-in into The Root Community, Futureverse’s layer-1 blockchain designed to handle mental property safety considerations. Futureverse believes the mixing may assist manufacturers signed with Sweet Digital to “safely use” and defend their IP.

‘Pure transfer’

The acquisition was a “pure transfer” for Sweet Digital, its co-founder and senior vp Matt Novogratz mentioned within the assertion. Futureverse has “patented expertise” that has helped outline how manufacturers interact individuals within the digital world, “the place most interactions happen,” he provides.

However skepticism over the time period “metaverse,” fueled by the overall market decline of NFTs, raises considerations for initiatives like Futureverse.

From gross sales of premier collections at a loss, to main tech companies shutting down their NFT initiatives, to marketplaces shifting to AI as a substitute, these tendencies within the crypto business have waned through the years.

Nonetheless, Futureverse has expanded quickly by means of strategic acquisitions and concurrent partnerships.

These included IP collaborations with Warner Bros., FIFA, and Reebok, amongst others. In the meantime, the corporate’s expertise stack consists of generative AI instruments, blockchain infrastructure, and developer instruments for creating interoperable digital experiences.

Sweet Digital’s buyers, together with Galaxy Digital, ConsenSys Mesh, and Microsoft, will be part of the Futureverse ecosystem as a part of the acquisition.

The precise monetary phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed. Decrypt didn’t instantly obtain responses from Futureverse on that matter.

Disclaimer: ConsenSys is one in all 22 buyers in an editorially impartial Decrypt.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair