Parallel Studios, the startup behind the popular Ethereum NFT card-battler game Parallel, has announced a successful funding round, raising $35 million from major firms in the crypto industry and notable angel investors.
The funding comes from prominent names such as investment management giant VanEck, Solana Ventures, the Base Ecosystem Fund, Collab + Currency, and The Spartan Group. The list of angel investors includes Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, co-founders of Solana, Luca Netz, owner and CEO of Pudgy Penguins, and Gabby Dizon, co-founder of Yield Guild Games.
This latest round of funding follows Parallel's previous raise of $50 million from Paradigm in 2021, which valued the studio at $500 million. While the updated valuation and the format of the recent funding round were not disclosed, Parallel Studios did share some insights into how they plan to utilize the $35 million infusion.
The studio intends to expand its user base by onboarding more players through the Parallel Ambassadors program and engaging influencers. Additionally, Parallel Studios has exciting plans for the future. They aim to launch Parallel on the Epic Games Store and Steam, as well as introduce the Planetfall expansion within the game. Mobile versions of Parallel are also in consideration, although specific timelines have yet to be determined.
In addition to Parallel, the studio has been actively developing Colony, an AI-powered "survival simulation" game built on the Solana blockchain. Colony differentiates itself from Parallel by utilizing generative AI technology. Funding from this round will contribute to the development of Wayfinder, an on-chain AI protocol that powers Colony and potentially other applications and games.