Ultiverse Raises $4M to Prove AI and Crypto Gaming Synergy
Singapore-based gaming startup Ultiverse has secured $4 million in a strategic funding round, pushing its valuation to $150 million. The company aims to silence skeptics who view the convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology as merely a passing trend by streamlining game development and user acquisition.
IDG Capital, an investment firm with a history of backing tech giants like Tencent and Baidu, as well as crypto entities like Coinbase and Circle, led the round. Additional participants included Animoca Brands, Polygon Ventures, MorningStar Ventures, Taiko, ZetaChain, Manta Network, DWF Venture, and investor Jacob KO.
Integrating AI into Web3 Production
Ultiverse positions itself as an AI-driven platform for producing and publishing crypto games. Co-founder Jimmy Liu, formerly a leader in private equity, stated that the company leverages existing large language models—including GPT-4, Llama, and Stable Diffusion—rather than developing proprietary models from scratch.
The startup utilizes these tools to train in-game non-player characters (NPCs), allowing for personalized player experiences based on unique interactions. Furthermore, players are empowered to create their own AI agents to perform tasks on their behalf.
“This sort of production process in the past may take days or even weeks. We needed more than one person committed to doing that. But now, with AI integration, we have reduced the time and cost to produce the same amount of content as before,” Liu explained.
Focusing on Web2 User Adoption
The gaming industry remains divided on the value of crypto-integrated titles, often haunted by the reputation of “play-to-earn” models that drew comparisons to pyramid schemes. Ultiverse is attempting to shift this narrative by focusing on accessibility.
The company has already published three games, reaching a milestone of 7.3 million registered users as of December, with monthly active users averaging 830,000. Key statistics from their current portfolio include:
- A mobile cricket title serving as a primary driver for growth.
- 200,000 unique active wallet addresses within the cricket game.
- A strong user base originating from India and Pakistan.
To bridge the gap between traditional gaming and blockchain, Ultiverse employs “account abstraction.” This feature simplifies the complexities of self-custodial wallets, enabling users who are unfamiliar with crypto to participate in the ecosystem seamlessly.
“It’s pretty much seamless until they need to withdraw the reward after a certain time when they notice that, okay, this isn’t just a game,” said Liu. “That approach helps us grow and convert those, what we call web2 gamers who never experimented with web3 at all before, to be part of our ecosystem.”
An IDG Capital spokesperson noted that the investment reflects a belief in the startup’s potential to transform how games are globally developed and experienced. The move comes as interest in AI + crypto applications gains traction among high-profile figures like Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, though the long-term scalability of these use cases remains a subject of industry-wide testing.