Riot Games Alum Raises Millions for Web3 Studio Battlebound

Harri Weber

Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to harrison@dot.la.

 A teaser for an upcoming game at web3 studio​ Battlebound
Courtesy of Battlebound

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Battlebound, the stealth gaming startup behind the anonymously launched Web3 game Evaverse, has raised more than $4.8 million in funding and is gearing up to bring its first title to mobile devices, dot.LA has learned.

Backed by at least 14 unnamed investors, according to a filing with the SEC, the Los Angeles-based company is led by founder and CEO Adam Hensel, a former Riot Games technical artist known pseudonymously as Damos. Battlebound’s team also includes former Riot Games concept artist David Ko, per Ko’s Twitter account.


While little else is known about the gaming startup’s founding team, a teaser page shows that they’ve previously worked on titles such as Riot’s “League of Legends,” ArenaNet’s “Guild Wars,” Blizzard’s “Overwatch 2” and Rovio’s “Angry Birds.”

An “Evaverse” character spins a machine for a potential prize.Courtesy of Battlebound

Evaverse, which Battlebound has dubbed a “best in class play-to-earn wonderland,” is part of a wave of blockchain games that reward players with crypto tokens and use NFTs as playable characters. The priciest Evaverse NFT—a bald, magenta-bearded, Thanos-esque character named Yolo McSwagginz—is listed on the NFT marketplace OpenSea for 120 Ethereum, or more than $348,000 as of press time.

Battlebound has described Evaverse as being built for a community of “blockchain players, traditional gamers, and NFT collectors” alike. The game is currently available on both PC and Mac via the Steam gaming platform, while its Discord community features more than 7,000 members.

Though new blockchain gaming entrants like Battlebound and L.A-based Artie seem to launch on a weekly basis, last year the NFT gaming scene was largely dominated by one particular title: “Axie Infinity,” which was launched by Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis in 2018 and reportedly accounted for nearly two-thirds of all gaming NFT transactions last year.

Representatives for Battlebound declined to comment.

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

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