StarkNet-based game dev community MatchboxDAO raises $7.5 million

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.

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.