CMCC Global leads $5 million round into web3 gaming platform Ajuna

Ajuna, a web3 gaming platform based in Switzerland, raised a $5 million round led by crypto venture capital firm CMCC Global. 

The platform, which previously raised a $2 million seed round led by Fundamental Labs, enables gaming development engines Unreal and Unity to integrate with blockchain technology, per a release on the funding announcement. By allowing developers to build web3 games using existing and widespread gaming engines,  the company says this will help speed up blockchain games, which are prone to lags. 

"The platform empowers studios to incorporate immutable digital assets into their games, resulting in powerful new experiences for gamers," said founding partner of CMCC Charlie Morris in a release.

Funding plans

The project will funnel the funding into further integration with other leading game engines and invest in supporting teams that deploy their games and products on the Ajuna network. Along with the funding round, it's also debuting its first iteration of a collectible NFT-powered game Awesome Ajuna Avatars. 

Ajuna's backing follows a flurry of funding for projects in the NFTs and gaming subsector — the most popular subsector in terms of percentage of total funding since August 2021, according to The Block Research. Last month, crypto gaming platform Oh Baby Games raised a $6 million seed round as it emerged from stealth. In the same month, Neopets Meta, the web3 version of the popular virtual pet game, also raised a $4 million round.

Still, January saw deals in the subsector decline from 40% in December to 26% but as The Block Research's John Dantoni points out, it's still premature to suggest that it's lost its appeal to crypto investors, citing previous lulls that led the way to pickups in funding.