Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based company advancing digital property rights for gaming and the metaverse, announced Thursday it has completed the acquisition of 80.45 percent of the issued capital of Israeli EdTech platform TinyTap Limited (TinyTap), for a consideration of $38.88 million in cash and shares.
Animoca Brands said in a statement that following the acquisition, it now holds a 84.13 percent stake in TinyTap. Other shareholders of TinyTap include Mario Ghio and Guilherme Mélega, respectively the Chief Executive Officer and the Vice President – K12 of Somos Educação, which is part of the Brazilian high-growth K-12 education company Vasta Educação group, as well as current and former TinyTap team members.
Animoca Brands said it will leverage the acquisition of TinyTap to establish a new business segment for blockchain-based UGC educational content that will allow educators worldwide to generate their own equity.
It said it will leverage TinyTap to establish a new blockchain-based business segment that will empower educators worldwide by providing them with access to new opportunities and the means to generate their own equity, expanding the earning options already presented by TinyTap in its current form.
By combining TinyTap’s interactive learning platform with blockchain technology, Animoca Brands said it will create an environment where educational content creators will be able to genuinely own the content that they provide and will receive rewards based on the educational impact that they generate.
It said that content creators will benefit from the works they create in a clear and transparent manner, and will be able to distribute their work to learners all over the world.
“Educators number among the most prolific creators and traders of content. Despite the fact that teaching is among the most important professions, educators generally struggle with funding and resources. Our goal is to mitigate some of the challenges faced by teachers everywhere,
“With our acquisition of TinyTap – a strong and proven leader in the field of UGC education – we will leverage blockchain to make new opportunities available to educators worldwide, allowing them to generate equity from their creations while offering parents enhanced learning opportunities for their kids,” said Yat Siu, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands.
TinyTap was founded in 2012 and currently employs 30 staff. It is a user-generated content (UGC) educational technology company that provides a no-code platform enabling educators to create and distribute interactive educational content while earning a usage-based revenue share.
The company has raised $13 million from investors including Aleph Venture Capital, Inimiti, Reinvent VC, Omega Group Enterprises Ltd., Radiant Ventures HK, including Animoca Brands and others.
The firm has generated revenues of $17.6 million from 2019 through April 30, 2022. During the COVID-19 global crisis, it established itself as a pandemic-resistant remote learning option. Starting around March 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak severely impacted the operations of schools around the world, the demand for TinyTap’s service increased considerably.
“Since inception, TinyTap has worked to free educators from the limitations of traditional education systems and inadequate budgets. We empower educators to create engaging learning activities that can reach millions of kids directly and that enable them to earn based on the success of their creations. By becoming a part of Animoca Brands, we will leverage blockchain to advance this vision and build a new education system that is independent of schools and governments, and that is owned and led by educators themselves,” said Yogev Shelly, Chief Executive Officer of TinyTap.
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