The dynamic and ownable augmented reality protocol, Anima, has raised another $3 million in funding for AR protocol used in apps such as the Onlybots AR digital pets.
HashKey, Not Boring Capital, Polygon Studios, and NGC Ventures contributed to the funding round. They join Coinbase Ventures, Flamingo, and Divergence Ventures as the company’s existing ventures.
“Web3 has brought digital assets under our control, but they still fail to connect back to our lives in meaningful and non-speculative ways. Augmented reality brings that relevance and connection,” said Alex Herrity, co-founder of Anima.
Early Anima initiatives showed the promise of augmented reality as a platform for creators to explore new directions, breaking records for AR auctions and generating over a million dollars in art sales while working with artists like Michael Kagan and Lyle Owerko.
Onlybots, a collection of augmented reality critters that showcases an ambitious collector brand developed for AR, was unveiled by Anima recently.
Within an hour of its launch, the project had sold out and was among the most popular trends on trading platforms. Earlier this year, street artist Demsky’s Mirror project used Anima’s location-based AR functionality to create constant evolutions of 3D digital sculptures. As a result, collectors were compelled to travel thousands of miles across multiple nations to reach virtual landmarks.
“Anima lets creators expand their toolkits and carry their creativity from the screen to the physical world. They’re building towards a future in which the whole world becomes a canvas,” stated investor Packy McCormick of Not Boring.
The Anima protocol and toolset are now in private beta. They will go public in early 2023, allowing creators to publish and tokenize dynamic works of art that interact with the physical environment. With the help of Anima, producers can control the terms of their sales while giving collectors access to real ownership.
The Anima protocol can power various projects, including immersive fine art sculptures, on-chain virtual pets, and video games.
Cofounders Neil Voss and Herrity, well-known for their work creating iconic creative products with businesses like Nintendo, Epic Games, HBO, Tumblr, and Flipboard, founded Anima in 2021.
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