Animoca Brands, the company driving digital property rights, announced Wednesday it has executed a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) to make a strategic investment in Igloo, Inc., the parent company of Pudgy Penguins.

The investment expresses Animoca Brands’ belief in the transformative power of consumer crypto and its confidence in the growth potential of Pudgy Penguins, one of the leading NFT-based intellectual properties, and in Abstract, the blockchain that Igloo, Inc. contributes to and that is characterized by its emphasis on direct distribution for consumer crypto, the company said in a statement.

Animoca Brands’ subsidiaries The Sandbox and Animoca Brands Japan also participated in the investment in Igloo, Inc. alongside Animoca Brands.

Animoca Brands said it is committed to empowering intellectual property rights in the NFT and gaming sectors.

The Pudgy Penguins project, with its unique IP rights agreement with NFT holders, exemplifies this potential. Under the leadership of Luca Schnetzler, Pudgy Penguins has demonstrated that Web3 intellectual property can be brought to the real world through a variety of physical merchandise representing the source NFT, positioning the project as a frontrunner in the consumer crypto market.

Igloo, Inc. and Cube Labs, a subsidiary of Igloo, Inc., recently announced a strategic initiative to contribute to Abstract, a highly scalable, secure, consumer-centric Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network built to provide the robust infrastructure for consumer crypto applications.

Abstract aims to optimize the consumer experience by offering simple onboarding, top-tier applications, and a highly cohesive ecosystem.

Animoca Brands’ investment will help to drive community engagement through initiatives that promote cross-community collaboration and participation between Abstract and Animoca Brands’ Mocaverse, which is building a network of networks with a single login entry point where partners can co-build different consumer applications for Web3 onboarding.

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented, “Our investment in Pudgy Penguins is not only a financial commitment but also reflects our belief in the transformative power of intellectual property rights. Given Luca’s strong track record in innovation and execution, we’re thrilled to support him and his team as they continue to push the envelope and create engaging user experiences for one of the most recognizable brands in the world of Web3.”

Luca Schnetzler, CEO of Pudgy Penguins, added, “This investment from Animoca Brands is a testament to our vision and commitment to building a thriving ecosystem. It will continue to help us create the largest onchain community and power the next wave of consumer crypto.”

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