StarkNet-based game dev community MatchboxDAO raises $7.5 million

Quick Take

  • On-chain game developer community MatchboxDAO announced a $7.5 million seed funding round.
  • It will use the funding to accelerate its StarkNet-based gaming initiatives.

On-chain game developer community MatchboxDAO announced a $7.5 million seed funding round on Wednesday.

StarkWare, Geometry Research, ReadyPlayerDAO, Neon DAO, Delphi Ventures, Lemniscap, Fabric Ventures, Road Capital, Formless Gamma and Bonfire Union were among the investors.

The round also saw participation from individual investors including Stateless Ventures founder Matt Slater and The Block’s VP of Research Larry Cermak.

Alongside announcing a valuation of $50 million, MatchboxDAO said in a statement it would use the funding to accelerate gaming initiatives. The DAO, which builds on StarkNet, is focused on developing two projects. Matchbox Spark will serve as an incubator for projects providing mentorship and funding for game developer teams, while Matchbox Studios includes a set of core games and a suite of tools for accelerating game development.

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The DAO launched earlier this year, and currently supports 25 projects with its seven-strong team, although MatchboxDAO Foundation founder and CEO Yonatan Ben-Shimon said they are currently looking to expand their team.

“Our long-term goal is to become the on-chain version of Unreal Engine. We want to enable game developers to build and launch a game within a very short period of time,” Ben-Shimon told The Block.

Disclosure: Members of The Block Research may, from time to time, participate in equity or token sales announced by industry startups. The Block News has no knowledge of this participation ahead of announcements and no special consideration is given to funding news involving members of The Block Research.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Callan Quinn is an NFT, gaming and metaverse reporter. She started her career working for the expat magazine City Weekend in Guangzhou, China. She also has worked as a business journalist in the UK, Somaliland and the republic of Georgia. Before joining The Block, she was a freelance journalist covering the Chinese tech industry. She speaks Mandarin, French and German. Get in touch via Twitter @quinnishvili or email [email protected].