Metaverse Avatar Creator Ready Player Me Raises $56M in Series B led by a16z

Ready Player Me, an Estonian company that creates avatars in the metaverse, has raised $56 million in a Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz's crypto and gaming funds.

According to a press release, investors also include Twitch co-founder Justin Kan, Roblox co-founder David Baszucki, and Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat Ventures, among others.

The fresh capital will go towards scaling the team up from the current 51 members while also building developer tools that will allow companies to create avatars that can be used across various virtual worlds.

Ready Player Me initially raised $13 million in December and has since worked with companies including Tencent, Huawei, HTC, Wargaming and Verizon (VZ).

Blockchain gaming usage has increased exponentially this year, with an April report from DappRadar saying gaming now accounts for 52% of all blockchain activity. Investment has jumped alongside, with the same report noting $2.5 billion of funding raised in the first quarter of 2022, up 150% from the year-ago level.

Andreessen Horowitz launched its first gaming fund in May with a $600 million commitment. Shortly later, the firm announced its fourth crypto fund worth $4.5 billion, doubling down on the crypto industry in spite of the market downturn.