Metaverse Magna
The largest gaming community in Africa, where gamers of every skill level can compete in eSports tournament to battle their friends & frenemies for prize money or bragging rights.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | investor | €0.0 | round |
* | $3.2m Valuation: $30.0m | Seed | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
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Metaverse Magna (MVM) is a Nigerian-based mobile esports platform focused on the African gaming market, founded in December 2021 by Yele Bademosi and Dr. Carla Woydt. Initially launched as a play-to-earn (P2E) gaming guild, MVM provided scholarships to over 1,000 gamers to participate in crypto games like Axie Infinity and Pegaxy. This early model allowed the company to generate significant monthly revenues and build a substantial community, which has since grown to over 100,000 members.
The company was incubated by Nestcoin, a web3 venture studio co-founded by Yele Bademosi, in partnership with Old Fashion Research. In September 2022, Metaverse Magna secured $3.2 million in a seed token sale round at a $30 million valuation. This funding was raised from a diverse group of investors, including Wemade, Gumi Cryptos Capital, HashKey, and Polygon Studios, with the goal of building Africa's largest gaming Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). The strategic selection of investors was aimed at leveraging their expertise to realize MVM's vision.
In response to shifts in the crypto market, MVM adapted its business model. The company spun off from Nestcoin, with Yemi Johnson, the former General Manager, appointed as CEO to lead the new direction, while Yele Bademosi remains on the board. This transition led to the development of Hyper, a social gaming and eSports platform. Hyper allows mobile gamers to compete in skill-based casual games for real-money rewards, moving away from the ad-based revenue model typical of casual games. Instead, MVM takes a percentage from the prize pools of the eSports contests held on the platform. This model targets a higher average revenue per user (ARPU) compared to traditional mobile games. The platform offers a variety of games, and users can win HPR, an in-game currency with real-money value that can be cashed out.
MVM's mission is to address the high youth unemployment in Africa by providing opportunities for young people to earn income through gaming. The platform is designed to be accessible, allowing users to play and earn without needing to purchase expensive gaming assets. Hyper is available on iOS and as a direct APK download for Android users, and it also provides tools for developers to launch their own games on the platform. The company operates with a team of employees who all hold a founding equity stake and has expanded its user base to include Nigeria, Indonesia, and Brazil through strategic partnerships.
Keywords: mobile gaming, eSports, play-to-earn, blockchain gaming, Africa, gaming guild, Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), crypto rewards, web3, skill-based games, gaming community, digital economy, fintech, social gaming, emerging markets, venture capital, seed funding, mobile games, Hyper, Yele Bademosi