Who are the investors in Gala Games?

Gala Games has quickly emerged as one of the leading blockchain gaming platforms, attracting funding from major crypto investors like FTX, a16z, Binance as well as traditional gaming firms. The company was founded in 2019 by Eric Schiermeyer, Michael McCarthy and Wright Thurston, veterans of both the crypto and gaming industries. Their expertise and vision for blockchain-based gaming has secured Gala Games over $450 million in funding so far.

Venture Capital Firms Betting on the Blockchain Gaming Future

In November 2021, Gala Games announced a whopping $100 million fundraise for its Blockchain Gaming Fund. This round was led by FTX Ventures, the VC arm of the Sam Bankman-Fried founded crypto exchange FTX. Sullivan Manoo, CEO of FTX Ventures explained their investment thesis: “We are strong believers in the play-to-earn gaming model and think Gala Games has one of the best approaches to bringing blockchain gaming mainstream."

Other backers in this mega round included Bill Miller‘s Miller Opportunity Trust which has also funded major crypto companies like BlockFi, Blockstack and FalconX. Mirana Ventures, 1kx, Kindred Ventures and gumi Cryptos Capital also participated signaling their bullishness on blockchain gaming.

In total over 50 investors from crypto and traditional gaming funded this round. Gala Games co-founder and COO Michael McCarthy commented that "This influx of funds from gaming industry leaders validates the trailblazing work of Gala Games.”

Investment from Premier Crypto Funds

In December 2021, Gala Games raised $150 million more from investors including the flagship crypto fund Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). a16z has backed other category leaders like OpenSea, Dapper Labs and Sky Mavis, so their investment is a strong validation of Gala Games‘ market position.

Popular crypto exchange Bitrue has also been an early backer providing liquidity and incubation support. Bitrue CEO Curis Wang stated "We are proud to have been part of Gala‘s journey from very early days as an investor and incubator.”

Partnerships with Leading Crypto Exchanges

In addition to fundraising, Gala Games has received strong support from top crypto exchanges like FTX and Binance. These platforms have provided liquidity, incubation opportunities, grants and promotion to boost Gala Games‘ ecosystem.

Binance promoted Gala Games through their Launchpad program which lets users buy tokens for promising projects. Gala Games co-founder Eric Schiermeyer said that “Partnering with Binance has been an important milestone for Gala Games.”

As of February 2022, over $250 million in netflows have gone into Gala Games related coins and tokens according to data from Nansen. This demonstrates the strong retail interest from crypto traders attracted to the project‘s potential.

Gaming Industry Veterans Overseeing Growth

But it‘s not just crypto believers funding Gala Games – the project is helmed by veterans from both industries.

Co-founder Eric Schiermeyer previously founded the gaming giant Zynga and is its largest individual shareholder. Zynga developed iconic titles like Farmville and paved the way for mobile gaming. Fellow co-founder Michael McCarthy was also a senior executive at Zynga.

In 2021, Gala Games also brought on talent like former Activision and Vivendi Games leader John Linden and Ubisoft‘s Nicolas Pouard. These gaming veterans provide invaluable expertise on game development, operations and networking.

This rare combination of crypto and gaming knowledge has propelled Gala Games to fast growth. The platform already has over 1.3 million monthly active users across its titles which include Town Star, Mirandus, Echoes of Empire and more.

Decentralized Network Supported by Node Operators

What makes Gala Games stand out from other blockchain gaming projects is its novel node system. Users can operate nodes on the network by locking up the GALA cryptocurrency which powers the in-game economies. There are different node tiers requiring between 15,000 to 2 million GALA locked up, granting varying voting rights and rewards.

This distributed node model is reminiscent of how servers operated in Web 2.0 gaming. But Gala Games has decentralized the infrastructure by letting users own nodes. Currently over 36,000 nodes are active globally, making the network resilient and scalable. Node operators also guide governance decisions for the games and ecosystem.

This participative model incentivizes users to actively support the platform while enjoying governance rights and upside through rewards. It‘s a win-win for both Gala Games and its community.

The stewards of Gala Games have expertly steered the project to impressive growth. With funding secured, products launching and communities growing, Gala Games has cemented itself as a category leader merging crypto with gaming. Its decentralized approach could provide a template for the open metaverse to come. Both investors and users continue to bet on Gala Games‘ success – and the opportunity still looks super galactic!