HK accelerator Brinc secured Animoca Brands led US $130 M funding in series B

Brinc, a Hong Kong-based startup accelerator, has secured a $30 million Series B funding, as well as a $100 million investment fund led by local unicorn Animoca Brands.

Brinc plans to utilise the fresh funds to expand its platform to other geographies and sectors, according to a statement.

Brinc will also utilise the funds to expand into Web3, including the establishment of new blockchain-focused accelerator programmes in the areas of culture, music, art, collectables, gaming, decentralised banking, and data.

Brinc will also assist entrepreneurs and corporations with the development of blockchain enterprises that include sustainability, inclusiveness, and equity in their business models.

“Brinc operates accelerator programmes, venture funds, and growing networks of corporate clients, investors, mentors, and distribution partners. Our networks leverage our accelerators and funds to gain visibility of exciting startups and make investments into the best deal flow across pre-seed, seed, and Series A+ stages either directly through programmes or indirectly through funds, all of which are currently designed around food, health, energy, climate deeptech, and blockchain. The new funding will be used to expand the number of accelerators and funds we have globally, providing more channels for our networks to access and invest in more high-quality startups,” Manav Gupta, founder and CEO of Brinc, told as per reports.

“During the process of closing [this round], we recognised that there was [an] opportunity to not only utilise the capital to support the development of Brinc’s core infrastructure (programmes, growing the talent base, scaling into new countries, expanding investments in marketing and other key areas) but also scale the amount of funding available to teams that come through our programs and launch dedicated Web3 focused programmes. Animoca Brands also came in as lead investor for the additional US $100 million for programme investments in addition to the US$30 million Series B round,” he added.

Brinc and Animoca Brands, which jointly launched the blockchain and NFT accelerator Launchpad Luna earlier this year, have strengthened their partnership with this investment. Its first batch is currently investing in 30 Web3 startups and assisting entrepreneurs with tokenization, product development, and financing.

Leading names in the blockchain business, including as Binance, Dapper Labs, Enjin, and The Sandbox, are among the program’s mentors and experts. Brinc and Animoca Brands intend to accelerate more than 100 businesses through LaunchPad Luna next year.

“Web3 technologies have the potential to democratise access to financial services and information, develop a more inclusive digital economy through aligned value capture mechanisms, and transform global business processes, just as the Internet did. Working with Animoca Brands to support leading companies in this space is an incredible opportunity. It underscores an increasing interest in utilising accelerators to access high-quality startup opportunities at scale,” Gupta remarked.

Yat Siu, the executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands, commented, “Brinc is the leading name in startup acceleration for emerging markets and technologies, and its sights are set firmly on the future and sustainability. We share a common vision of an open future with blockchain adoption in traditional and growth sectors, and we look forward to the innovations that will emerge from its acceleration programmes.”

Brinc, which was founded in 2014, supports businesses in the areas of IoT, blockchain, AI, linked hardware, drones, robots, sustainable energy, and food technology. Its portfolio helps to improve food and water security, healthcare, climate change, urbanisation, connectivity, transportation, and financial inclusion, among other things.

It has backed over 200 businesses with founders hailing from over 35 nations. It now has 18 multidisciplinary acceleration programmes operating in seven offices across the world.

Brinc also provides investment services, distributed innovation strategies, new startup and technology sourcing, and venture building Web 3.0 enabled businesses to corporations. Over the years, Brinc has worked with global corporations (Manulife, Huawei, Schneider Electric, Puma, Batelco, Merck, Omantel, Linrun Group, Zhihui Park), government organisations (Hong Kong Science Park, NEOM, MBRIF, Guangdong Soft-tech Park), universities (HK City University, National University of Singapore), and venture funds (Artesian, LeverVC, Tamkeen, and EDB).

Within the next five years, Gupta stated the accelerator’s objective to invest in over 1,000 businesses researching solutions to tackle climate change and build a more inclusive and fair society.

Brinc launched BrincArtesian, a Singapore fund manager, earlier this year to give limited partners (LPs) access to developing market Series A-plus co-investment possibilities.

Brinc’s spring 2022 accelerated programme is now accepting applications. Startups can apply here if they are interested.