VR GAME DEVELOPER THIRDVERSE RAISES $20M & APPOINTS GUMI FOUNDER HIRONAO KUNIMITSU CEO

Tokyo-based Thirdverse Inc., a virtual reality game development, distribution, and management company, has secured US$20M in Series A and B funding rounds, and appointed gumi founder Hironao Kunimitsu as CEO. 

The funding rounds were led by JAFCO and attracted participation from Presence Capital, Sisu Ventures, Incubate Fund, and Animoca Brands. Renowned video game producer and founder of inXile Entertainment, a Microsoft Xbox Game Studio, Brain Fargo, has also joined the Thirdverse advisory board. 

Newly appointed CEO Kunimitsu co-founded Thirdverse in 2020 with Kiyoshi Shin, Satoshi Ban, and Masaru Ohnogi. In 2007 Kunimitsui established gumi inc., and served as the company’s President and CEO, taking it public in 2014. 

During that time, Kunimitsu launched the Virtual Reality Fund, gumi Cryptos Capital, and VR incubators in Tokyo, Seoul, and Helsinki. He also founded the blockchain startup FiNANCiE and was a major investor and board member for double jump.tokyo, the company behind the blockchain game My Crypto Heroes. 

Hironao Kunimitsu, CEO and co-founder of Thirdverse, said: “Thirdverse is building a world-class tech development and publishing team that spans across gaming, VR and blockchain. With the additional funding from Animoca Brands, we also have the trust of key partners and the ability to accelerate the business. My goal moving forward is to bring Thirdverse properties to the global market and further drive our multi-year vision of the metaverse.”

Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, added: “Kunimitsu-san’s breadth of experience at the executive level will be invaluable as Thirdverse expands its gaming distribution and management business globally and advances its global footprint. We look forward to contributing our extensive expertise in the NFT space while working closely with Kunimitsu-san and the Thirdverse team.”