Reuters reported that Singapore state-backed investment company Temasek has led the latest funding round for Australian blockchain firm Immutable at a $2.5 billion valuation. Immutable started as a blockchain games firm and launched the trading card game Gods Unchained and RPG Guild of Guardians. Today it is best known for Immutable X, the Ethereum blockchain scaling solution targeting NFTs, and a partnership with GameStop to launch NFTs.
Other investors in the latest round include Tencent Holdings (parent of WeChat), Mirae Asset, ParaFi Capital, and Declaration Partners. In 2019 the company attracted funding from Naspers Ventures and Galaxy Digital in its $15 million Series A, followed by a $60 million round in September last year.
Apart from high profile partnerships like GameStop, the company has been quietly inking other deals. One example is signing the NFT platform Veve to use its ImmutableX blockchain scaling solution. Veve has partnerships with Disney, its subsidiary Marvel Comics and DC Comics, whose parent is Warner Brothers. It’s been prolific in issuing NFTs targeting a mainstream audience for brands like Mickey Mouse and The Simpsons. So the move to ImmutableX is a big deal.
What is Immutable X?
ImmutableX is an Ethereum scaling solution that is underpinned by technology from Starkware. Some scaling solutions are independent sidechains such as Polygon, which don’t rely on Ethereum for their security. And Ethereum’s security is seen as one of its key benefits. The tech community is keen on various batching solutions that are more tightly linked to Ethereum.
One type is Zero-Knowledge Rollups (ZK Rollups), such as Starkware, which involves creating a cryptographic proof of a batch of transactions. Because transactions are processed off-chain, it’s relatively cheap and fast. It’s also an area where competition is hotting up. Just one example is ConsenSys Rollups.
After launching ImmutableX in April 2021, $12.5 million was raised in a token sale in September. The token’s capitalization is currently $330 million after the price rose from $1.12 earlier today to $1.56.
