YAHAHA Studios (YAHAHA), the community focussed user-generated content (UGC) metaverse, has announced it has secured a Series A+ investment of USD 40M. The new funding round was led by Temasek and Alibaba and includes investment from 37 Interactive Entertainment.
The raise will be used to further grow the YAHAHA product, community, headcount and ecosystem. Since launching Early Alpha in April 2022, YAHAHA has seen over 100,000 creators flock to its platform on PC and macOS, with hundreds of thousands of players enjoying its UGC games on the mobile app, according to the statement.
Dual-Headquartered in Finland and Shanghai, YAHAHA was founded in 2020 by a talented group of Unity veterans. The platform is on a mission to democratize 3D content creation, helping creatives of all skill levels to make their own games, worlds and social spaces. YAHAHA has tools that make creating games as easy as drag and drop, as well as extensive, easy-to-use, tutorials. This investment follows a previous Series A raise of USD 50 million, taking total funding secured by YAHAHA to almost USD 100 million in two years, according to the company’s statement.
YAHAHA has over 150 employees, with offices in Helsinki, Seoul, and Shanghai, with a global team. Following the new round of funding, it plans to extend its reach further, with new hires and offices in local markets such as the US and APAC. Extending its ecosystem, YAHAHA has plans to collaborate with brands to bring new IPs into its metaverse.
Chris Zhu, CEO at YAHAHA said, “We’ve seen fantastic growth in YAHAHA throughout the Early Alpha stage, and with over 100,000 creators signing up to make content with us, we are building on a strong foundation. This round of funding signifies the next step we are taking with YAHAHA – opening up more creator experiences monetization modules. We are also continuing to pioneer by investing in key areas of the community and by building relationships with brands that share our values, aligning ourselves with experts in the fields of game development, 3D asset creation and more.”
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