Genopets Raises $8.3m in Seed Round Funding to Bridge the Physical and Digital World
Our vision for Genopets was born years ago from our prior work in digital health creating passive income through non-custodial monetization of genetic and epigenetic data. We were building a decentralized health data marketplace that would aggregate the world’s health data to rent out to researchers and provide passive income to individuals. While we later realized that specific vision was too premature due to the lack of necessary infrastructure, we’ve remained steadfast in our vision of providing passive income through health.
Earlier this year, it became clear the best way to realize that vision was through a Play-to-Earn NFT game. Our decision paralleled the astronomical growth of the industry and we are excited to continue innovating alongside the community. With Genopets, we not only financially incentivize players to stay fit — we make it fun and socially rewarding to do so.
Today, we are honored to announce that we have raised over $8 million from some of the biggest names in gaming and crypto venture capital in order to bridge the physical and digital worlds with a Move-to-Earn mobile game. We’re blessed to be growing with such a vibrant and involved community. We humbly thank you for your outstanding support from day one.
This round of seed funding was co-led by Konvoy Ventures (investors and board observer at Axie Infinity) and Pantera Capital, with participation from Old Fashion Research, Alameda Research, Solana Capital, Xoogler Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Collab+Currency, Spartan Group, Animoca Brands, OliveX, Hyper, CMT Digital, DeFi Alliance, Eniac Ventures, CMS Holdings, GBV Capital, Yield Guild Games, Merit Circle, Bitscale Capital, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Evernew Capital, Fundamental Labs, Valhalla Capital, Cinchblock, Raptor Capital, and Magnus Capital.
We’d also like to acknowledge several notable angel investors from the crypto, gaming, and fitness world, including Prabhakar Reddy (Co-Founder, FalconX), Richard Ma (CEO, Quantstamp), Kevin Lin (Co-Founder, Twitch), John Robinson (President & COO, 100 Thieves), Brian Corrigan (VP and Head of Americas, PUBG Corporation), Keisuke Honda (Professional Japanese footballer) and Melanie Strong, a 19-year veteran executive of Nike.
“Genopets is a liquid digital asset representation of a gamer’s physical activity in the real world. It sits at the intersection of gaming, play-to-earn, and physical activity. This platform connects a gamer’s real-world steps with their progression, customization, and value creation in the Genopet universe. This company’s edge in the gaming market is augmented by an incredible leadership team in Albert, Ben, and Jay. We’re thrilled to invest in and support the team at Genopets for this journey as they build upon play-to-earn with the addition of Move-to-Earn. Great things ahead.” — Josh Chapman, Managing Partner at Konvoy Ventures.
“Play-to-Earn pinpointed an intersection of gaming and blockchain that has struck a chord with users: earning real money proportional to in-game performance. This is a trend we’ve been monitoring very closely; we believe it’s going to fundamentally transform the established gaming industry and onboard millions of users into the crypto ecosystem. That’s why we’re so excited to be backing Genopets, a cutting-edge game that leverages the viral elements of play-to-earn to reward real-world fitness. Genopets is pioneering a new category of gaming, “Move-to-Earn,” and we’re thrilled to see where it goes from here.” — Paul Veradittakit, Partner at Pantera Capital
“Genopets is one of those revolutionary projects that binds people’s everyday lives to blockchain through gaming and NFTs. It’s going to change the way people own and use their health data. As the leading advisor and investor, Old Fashion Research is privileged to be with Genopets from the very beginning.” — Wayne Fu, Managing Partner at OFR, former Head of CorpDev at Binance.
Where We’ve Arrived and What We’re Doing
In 2008, we played Tap Tap Revenge; in 2012, we were glued to Candy Crush Saga; in 2018, we were gifted with the innovations of Axie Infinity; and thanks to the great minds that have come before us, we are elated to introduce to you — the Genoverse of Genopets.
Procured from the foundational free-to-play mobile gaming model, Genopets is the first mass-market NFT game to welcome crypto-native and non-crypto players with open arms. By combining free-to-play and play-to-earn, Genopets is a first for NFTs. Our Dual Earning Economy allows anyone to hatch their Genopet for free and participate in the open marketplace.
Your Genopet is procedurally generated based on your personality by imbuing your psychological profile into the Genopet that best matches with you through a series of questions. Completing step challenges and purchasing in-game NFTs will speed up your Genopet NFT’s evolution process and unlock a variety of special skills and attributes, increasing its rarity, and thus, value. Additionally, everyone who plays Genopets will have full ownership and selling rights over the assets they earn through the game.
To sum it up, as a free player, you will always have the opportunity to earn by eventually selling your beloved Genopet. However, if you decide you don’t want to part with your digital spirit animal, you can buy a Habitat NFT, making you a “paid player.” Paid players earn $KI token for their daily active use and maintenance of their Habitat. As a paid player, you can also generate and craft in-game NFTs, which you can then sell on the open marketplace or use to augment and enhance your Genopet. (Click here to read more about the difference between “free” and “paid” players.)
Our Move-to-Earn model intertwines the best parts of move-to-play mechanics proven by the Nintendo Wii, Pokemon Go, and VR, with free-to-play mobile gaming and blockchain’s play-to-earn incentives. By rewarding real-life actions with earnings and full ownership of in-game digital assets, Genopets delivers gameplay with purpose. Every step you take and the effort you make will translate to reflect the state of your Genopet. As a result, Genopets replaces conventional mobile game grinding (senseless screen tapping) with gamified self-care, providing players with a meaningful gaming experience and a lasting sense of accomplishment.
Built on Solana, Genopets merges the nurture and evolution of Tamagotchi, the training and battling of Pokémon, and the fitness and social incentives of Strava while giving you a chance to earn crypto for simply taking care of yourself and staying active in your daily life. We hope to bring global attention to what is possible at the intersection of blockchain NFTs and mobile gaming.
To the Community
“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” — Margaret J. Wheatley
On behalf of the entire Genopets team, we would like to take this opportunity to give a huge shout out to the dedicated members of our social media platforms, especially our Discord community, who has grown to over 55K members strong in just the past few months. We love nothing more than to see your excitement and encouragement span the message boards. Without your input, we wouldn’t have any direction. Keep the conversation going; your support is invaluable. To have the opportunity to enhance your daily lives, even if just in the slightest, is the reason Genopets exists. You, the beautiful community that is Genopets, are the reason we have made it to where we are today.
With this round of funding, we plan to expand the team, accelerate our game development, and continue growing with our community. And by joining mainstream audiences with NFT gaming, everyone can have the chance to experience the rewards of play-to-earn.
To be grateful is an understatement. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making Genopets come to life. Together, we are shining a new light on how we can all lead more fulfilling lifestyles in a fun and exciting way. We are proud to call you all Genovians. See you in the Genoverse, fam.
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Summon your Genopet and start moving to begin exploring and evolving together. Stay tuned for future updates, and join the conversation in our community channels below. See you in the Genoverse!
About Genopets
It’s time to step up your game. Genopets is the world’s first Free-to-Play, Move-to-Earn NFT mobile game that makes it fun and rewarding to live an active lifestyle. A Genopet is your digital pet whose evolution and growth are inextricably linked to your own. The steps you take every day power your journey through the Genoverse as you explore, battle, and evolve — earning crypto while you play.
Join the Genopets Community
Private Beta Sign Up: https://genopets.me/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/genopets
Discord: https://discord.gg/genopets
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Genopets.me/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/genopets
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/genopets
Telegram: https://t.me/GenopetsAnnouncements
Important Notice
This post and all other materials provided by us are subject to this notice (“Notice”). Please familiarize yourself with the terms of the Notice, as it contains important information, limitations, and disclaimers regarding Genopets and our Genoverse and digital assets, forward-looking statements, and other representations and warranties from you in accordance with the digital assets. By accessing Genopets, the Genoverse, the digital assets, or any of our material, you accept and agree to the terms of this Notice. The sale of tokens is not available to U.S. Persons (as defined by Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933) or to persons located in a sanctioned country as provided by OFAC.
