Unikrn founder raises $40m for new NFT venture
Irreverent Labs debuts robot cock fighting play-to-earn title following most recent capital injection
The founder of esports betting platform Unikrn has raised $40m in a funding round for his new NFT venture, Irreverent Labs.
Rahul Sood, who sold Unikrn to Entain last year as part of the FTSE 100 operator’s £50m plunge into the world of esports, is set to merge the worlds of NFTs and gaming via his new company.
The Seattle-based blockchain company has unveiled its first game, MechaFightClub, in which mechanical roosters virtually cock fight.
Each rooster is an individual NFT, with the title also using play-to-earn mechanics whereby players can profit from reselling NFT roosters when they have been levelled up.
Irreverent Labs currently employees 20 peoples, including a small design team in the US and a set of developers in Ukraine.
Irreverent Labs previously raised $5m in a prior funding round.
The technology runs on the Solana blockchain.
Sood said: “To me, artificially intelligent entertainment being created is super interesting. I think this is where gaming is going. And no one else has done this yet. We’re going to be the first to do it.”