What’s Next for Ethereum NFT Game ‘Parallel’ and Solana’s ‘Colony’ After $35 Million Raise

Parallel Studios, the startup behind Ethereum NFT card-battler Parallel, introduced late Wednesday that it has raised $35 million in recent funding from a bevy of main companies across the crypto world and quite a few well-known angel traders.

The listing contains funding administration big VanEck, Solana Ventures, the Base Ecosystem Fund, Collab + Forex, and The Spartan Group, whereas the listing of angels options Solana co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, Pudgy Penguins proprietor and CEO Luca Netz, and Yield Guild Video games co-founder Gabby Dizon, amongst others.

Parallel beforehand raised $50 million from Paradigm in 2021 at what the studio then stated was a $500 million valuation. The corporate didn’t disclose an up to date valuation or the format of the most recent funding spherical.

Nevertheless, Parallel Studios did share some particulars with Decrypt’s GG on the way it plans to make the most of the $35 million infusion, together with extra readability on what’s forward not just for Parallel—GG’s 2023 recreation of the yr—but additionally the not too long ago unveiled AI-powered Colony recreation that it’s constructing on Solana.

The fundraise comes simply weeks after Parallel opened as much as the general public in a free-to-play beta. A studio consultant stated that Parallel Studios goals to “begin onboarding a ton extra customers” by increasing its current Parallel Ambassadors program and dealing extra with influencers broadly, in addition to by paid promoting in varied markets worldwide.

Moreover, they intention to roll out some vital strikes within the coming months, together with launches on the Epic Video games Retailer and Steam, and the approaching in-game launch of the Planetfall growth. They stated that cell variations are additionally on the roadmap and that it’s a “key space of curiosity,” however that no timeline has been finalized there.

The rep added that Parallel is already seeing 10 occasions the web site signups not too long ago than in January earlier than the open beta debuted and that it simply had its best-ever tally for every day lively customers. The crew says it plans to share such information extra brazenly within the close to future as soon as it could possibly higher validate the measured stats.

After which there’s the studio’s different main focus, Colony. After loads of teases, Parallel Studios not too long ago launched an intensive whitepaper detailing the generative AI powered “survival simulation” recreation, which is able to make the most of the Solana blockchain—as an alternative of Ethereum and scaling community Base, as seen with Parallel.

As famous above, Solana Ventures took half within the newest funding spherical, and two of the community’s outstanding co-founders had been counted among the many backers too.

Parallel Studios goals to get a beta model out to the general public by the tip of the yr, echoing the goal famous within the whitepaper. Funding may even assist additional growth on Wayfinder, the on-chain AI protocol that can energy Colony and potential different apps and video games forward.

“Wayfinder is a brand new synthetic intelligence (AI) centered omni-chain device enabling user-owned, autonomous AI brokers to securely and effectively navigate inside and throughout blockchain ecosystems and purposes whereas independently transacting property they management by way of devoted Web3 wallets,” the protocol whitepaper reads.

A pre-alpha model of Colony has already been examined, however the studio says that it’ll make the most of funding funds to assist ramp up the event of the sport and launch further checks starting this summer season. The consultant stated that Parallel Studios is “transferring very, in a short time to rent extra folks on the Colony aspect” to succeed in these objectives.

PRIME, the Ethereum-based token of Parallel that may even be bridged to Solana to be used in Colony, is up 12% during the last day to a present worth of about $23.30 for the reason that funding information was introduced. The token has been on a scorching streak recently, up 63% during the last 30 days. It set a brand new all-time excessive worth of $28.00 on March 18 following the most recent Colony reveal.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.