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Who Wants to Live in the Metaverse?

Who Wants to Live in the Metaverse?
January 19, 2022

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Web 2.0 brought us social media. To an optimist, it was a democratizing force in a more connected world. For a pessimist, it had dystopian notes of shrinking privacy, more anxious children, and less human interaction. Depending on whom you ask, consumers of the Internet are excited or apprehensive about the next phase, called the metaverse, but meanwhile, business titans are making investments and grabbing market share in the makers of the metaverse, also known as Web3.

Much ink has been spilled (digitally, of course) on whether the metaverse–swapping real-life interactions for digital meeting places utilizing VR headsets–will actually take root. Apparently, the world isn't ready, but it's already here.

Microsoft's Metaverse Bet
Microsoft, the second most valuable company globally at $2.3TN, will purchase Call of Duty and Candy Crush maker (or rather, acquire) Activision Blizzard for a record $68.7BN. The gaming company is under employee pressure and public scrutiny for its toxic work environment and will face antitrust questioning whether it will make the games exclusively for Microsoft products (bye, bye PlayStation).

Virtual Everything
For some of us, we're still skeptical about Web3. Remember Google Glass? And given the pandemic's disruption to meeting in person, a metaverse test case if there ever was one, we failed to see skyrocketing numbers of new VR headsets users. If anything, the pandemic has shown us that when we're cut off from one another physically, we buy physical books, make bread, and knit scarves. Does anyone really want to step into the virtual hot tub with Mark Zuckerberg?

For more on this topic, check out our other Daily Stack articles on NFTs, Web3eSports, & gaming startups.

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Since last week, PrivCo has added:
610 Companies | 202 Funding Activities | 268 M&A Deals

Funding & Deal Highlights:

 

Bolt raises $355MM from BlackRock

Payment Platform • Round E • San Francisco, CA
 

Wayve raises $200MM from Eclipse VC

EV • Round B • London, UK
 

Dream Games raises $255MM from Index Ventures

Mobile Games • Round C • Istanbul, Turkey
 

Arya raises $46MM from Asia Impact

AgTech • Round C • Noida, India
 

INDmoney raises $75MM from Tiger Global

AI Finance • Round D • Haryana, India
 

Rain Financial raises $110MM from Paradigm

Cryptocurrency • Round B • Bahrain Bay, Bahrain
 

Curbio raises $65MM from Revolution Growth

Real Estate • Round B • Potomac, MD
 

Ironclad raises $150MM from Franklin Templeton

LegalTech • Round E • San Francisco, CA
 

Canalyst raises $70MM from Dragoneer 

Fintech • Round C • New York, NY
 

Walnut raises $35MM from Felicis Ventures

CRM • Round B • New York, NY
 

Fermata Energy raises $40MM from The Carlyle Group

Renewable Energy • Equity • Charlottesville, VA
 

K2 Partnering Solutions acquires Cloud Pacific 

Consulting • Acquisition • Kailua, HI
 

Mars acquires NomNomNow 

Pet Care • Acquisition • San Francisco, CA
 

GTreasury acquires Hedge Trackers 

Accounting • Acquisition • San Jose, CA
 

Network Merchants acquires IRIS CRM

CRM • Acquisition • Brooklyn, NY
 

Netrix acquires BTB Security 

IT Consulting • Acquisition • Bala Cynwyd, PA

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