Solana-based MonkeyLeague game developer raises $24 million

UnCaged Studios, the developer of the Solana-based game MonkeyLeague, has raised $24 million in a Series A funding round as it plans expansion.

The round was led by Griffin Gaming Partners, with Maverick Ventures Israel, Drive by DraftKings, Vgames and 6th Man Ventures participating, Israel-based UnCaged Studios announced in a statement on Thursday.

As part of the deal, Nick Tuosto, managing director of Griffin Gaming Partners, has joined UnCaged's board of directors, Tal Friedman, co-founder of UnCaged, told The Block.

Friedman co-founded UnCaged last year with his brother Raz. They both previously worked for Israel-based publicly listed gaming company Playtika.

UnCaged Studios began raising for the round in April and closed it last month, Friedman said, adding that it is an equity round. Late last year, the firm raised $4.4 million in a token sale by selling MonkeyLeague's MBS token.

MonkeyLeague is a play-to-earn soccer game on Solana. It has more than 4,000 non-fungible token (NFT) holders and over 330,000 followers on social media, said Friedman. 

With fresh capital in hand, UnCaged plans to continue the development of MonkeyLeague and release more games, said Friedman. The firm also offers a gaming technology platform called Game OS, which helps developers integrate web3 aspects to their games, such as NFTs and token custody.

Friedman said UnCaged will serve web2 gaming companies looking to make the jump to web3 through its Game OS platform.

There are currently 38 people working for UnCaged and the firm is "actively hiring" across functions to help meet its expansion plans, said Friedman.