Asia

Sequoia Capital India Leads $450 Million Round for Polygon With SoftBank, Galaxy, Tiger, Republic Capital

Published

3 years ago

February 8, 2022

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The backing from leading global institutions is a vote of confidence in Polygon’s position as Ethereum’s leading scaling solution and the team’s vision for Web3.

Polygon raised about $450 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital India with participation from more than 40 major venture capital firms including SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Galaxy Digital, Galaxy Interactive, Tiger Global, Republic Capital and prominent investors like Alan Howard (co-founder, Brevan Howard) and Kevin O’Leary (Mr. Wonderful from ABC’s Shark Tank).

Polygon’s first major financing round since the project’s founding in 2017 has also attracted contributions from Alameda Research, Transcend Fund, Makers Fund, Animoca Brands, global video game leader and games industry investor Scopely, dune ventures, Union Square Ventures, Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six, Elevation Capital, Sino Global Capital, DCG, Standard Crypto, Celsius, Dragonfly Capital, Variant Fund, Blue Pool Capital, WorkPlay Ventures (led by Zynga founder Mark Pincus), and many more. The funds will be raised through a private sale of Polygon’s native MATIC token.

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

This will allow the team to consolidate its lead in the race to scale Ethereum, obviating the need for alternative blockchains and paving the way for mass adoption of Web3 applications. Polygon is building a suite of scaling solutions, including Polygon PoS, Polygon Edge and Polygon Avail, that is similar to what Amazon Web Services offers Web2 developers — a tool for every possible use case. The team is also investing in cutting-edge zero knowledge (ZK) technology that will be key to onboarding the next billion users to Ethereum.

Polygon has always been a community-first project and owes its success to the ecosystem of early believers, developers and stakeholders. This investment round is the tide that lifts all boats and exemplifies the role the community plays in making Web3 a reality.

“Web3 builds on the early Internet’s open-source ideals, enabling users to create the value, control the network and reap the rewards. Ethereum, scaled by Polygon, will be the bedrock of this next stage in the Web’s evolution,” said Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal. “Technological disruption didn’t start with Web2, nor is it going to end there. That’s why we are very excited to see some of the same firms that funded the previous round of innovation now being our Web3 vision.”

The most pressing question for the Ethereum community has been how to increase the network’s capacity to handle more transactions. The skyrocketing popularity of new applications in decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) brought with it congestion and soaring fees. Polygon has stepped in with a broad range of scaling options and transaction rates that are among the industry’s lowest.

Over the past year, Polygon has attracted some of the biggest projects in Web3, from DeFi protocols such as lending platform Aave to luxury brands company Dolce & Gabbana and NFT marketplaces including OpenSea and Mark Cuban’s Lazy.com. Virtual worlds such as Decentraland and Animoca Brands’ The Sandbox are also laying the groundwork for the metaverse on the network. More than 7,000 decentralized apps (dApps) are currently building on Polygon, making it the main destination for Web3 platforms and developers.

“The platform of choice to build on the blockchain today is Polygon. Thousands of developers across a range of applications are choosing Polygon and their complete set of scaling solutions for the Ethereum ecosystem,” said Shailesh Lakhani, MD at Sequoia India. “This is an ambitious and aggressive team, one that values innovation at its core. Sequoia Capital India is thrilled to lead this significant financing round.”

Polygon PoS adoption has soared exponentially, with a billion transactions recorded last year. The network’s more than 130 million unique addresses and over 2.67 million monthly active users now generate some 3 million transactions per day, more than double the volume of Ethereum. Polygon’s native MATIC token has a market capitalization of over $12 billion.

To make sure the growth can continue into the foreseeable future, Polygon is making major investments into zero knowledge cryptography, a technology widely seen as the end game for blockchain scaling. The core development team made it a centerpiece of its strategic vision in the Zero Knowledge Thesis published in August. As part of that mission, the team has committed $1 billion, a significant portion of the treasury, to ZK-related efforts.

Polygon is now home to an unrivaled collection of ZK efforts. The portfolio includes a zkEVM being developed by Polygon Hermez, privacy-focused Polygon Nightfall rollup built in collaboration with EY, Polygon Miden’s general purpose STARK-based rollup and Polygon Zero team applying a technique called recursion to ZK proofs.

“Adoption by individual users and enterprises, the emergence of real-world applications like DeFi and NFTs, and broader involvement from the institutional community are all strong indicators that Web3 has passed a major installation milestone and is here to stay,” Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said. “Together, Polygon and Ethereum are building the base layer for a new Internet, which is why we’re excited to play a role in this important fundraise.”

Asia

Spintec wins Best ETG Solution Award in Asia

Published

2 days ago

March 21, 2025

George Miller

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

Asia Gaming Awards recognised Spintec’s Charisma as the best among electronic table gaming solutions based on its added value, reliability, support, functionality, customer experience, and revenue generation.

The award confirms that Spintec’s role as one of the leading providers of electronic table games (ETGs) in Asia is not a coincidence. It is especially admirable that they are most successful in Macau, an extremely important market known for its size, strict regulations, and high operational standards. Spintec’s presence in Asia is therefore stronger than ever, driven by a deep understanding of the market’s needs and a commitment to delivering cutting-edge ETG solutions that enhance the player experience and casino profitability.

Spintec’s products are the preferred choice for operators looking for reliability, innovation, and seamless integration into their gaming floors.

Spintec’s success in Asia is also fuelled by their unwavering focus on product excellence and continuous innovation, such as the recent launch of their Charisma line. From stand-alone, compact solutions to multiplayer and amphitheater setups, Spintec’s ETGs are designed to optimize player engagement and operational efficiency. Casinos across Asia trust Spintec’s solutions to maximize uptime and enhance gameplay.

Maria Garcia is the Executive and Sales Director of APE, Spintec’s exclusive distributor in Macau, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia. As she was receiving the award, she emphasised: “Spintec’s ETGs have quickly become one of the bestsellers in our portfolio — and that’s no coincidence. With the launch of the Charisma product line, it’s clear their solutions are superior in every aspect. We are beyond thrilled that Spintec has received this prestigious recognition. It proves that APE has decided on the best possible partnership and it gives us additional drive to continue developing our markets.”

Maksim Gojković, Spintec’s Regional Sales Manager, agrees: “We are extremely proud and thankful for this recognition. Asia is one of Spintec’s most important markets and the cooperation with APE has been admirable. This latest award just proves that products developed in cooperation with good partners will always bring an advantage.”

The post Spintec wins Best ETG Solution Award in Asia appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Asia

ExitLag Partners with TALON Esports

Published

3 days ago

March 20, 2025

Niji Narayan

Reading Time: 2 minutes

ExitLag, created to help enhance internet connections and reduce latency through its multi-path technology, announced it has partnered with TALON, one of the most prominent esports organisations in the APAC region. As part of this collaboration, ExitLag will become an official sponsor of TALON Esports, supporting their teams competing in League of Legends (Taiwan), Valorant (South Korea), Dota 2 (Philippines) and ROV (Thailand).

With this partnership, ExitLag reinforces its commitment to supporting top-tier esports teams and players by optimising their connectivity and ensuring a smoother, lag-free competitive experience. Talon Esports has established a formidable reputation as a dominant force in competitive gaming across the APAC region. By sponsoring TALON, ExitLag strengthens its expansion into the Asian gaming market, ensuring that professional and amateur gamers alike have access to superior network performance.

“Esports is built on the foundation of precision, speed, skill, and seamless gameplay. At ExitLag, we are dedicated to providing competitive gamers with the best possible connection to compete at their highest level. Partnering with TALON Esports allows us to further our mission of eliminating connectivity barriers and enhancing the performance and experience of top esports players competing across multiple titles globally,” said Lucas Stolze, CEO of ExitLag.

ExitLag’s proprietary multi-path technology optimises data routing in real-time, reducing lag, packet loss and jitter to deliver the most stable gaming experience possible. Through this partnership, ExitLag will work closely with TALON’s teams across various titles, ensuring that their players can focus entirely on performance without network limitations.

“We’re thrilled to welcome ExitLag as a partner. In professional esports, every millisecond matters. ExitLag’s cutting-edge technology will provide our players a crucial competitive edge, ensuring they can perform at their peak without worrying about connectivity issues,” said Sean Zhang, CEO of TALON Esports.

As ExitLag continues its rapid growth in the Asia-Pacific region, this partnership underscores its dedication to empowering esports athletes with world-class network solutions. Fans can look forward to exciting activations, exclusive content, and engagement opportunities as ExitLag and TALON Esports work together throughout the season.

“As we expand our footprint in Asia, partnering with TALON Esports is a testament to our dedication to providing the best connectivity solutions for competitive gamers in the region. We are excited to work closely with TALON’s teams and help elevate their performance to new heights,” said Josh Wong, Asia Market Lead of ExitLag.

The post ExitLag Partners with TALON Esports appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Asia

HERO ESPORTS Asian Champions League: 6 Spots for Esports World Cup Up for Grabs in Teamfight Tactics Tournament

Published

5 days ago

March 18, 2025

Niji Narayan

hero-esports-asian-champions-league:-6-spots-for-esports-world-cup-up-for-grabs-in-teamfight-tactics-tournament

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The HERO ESPORTS Asian Champions League (ACL), Asia’s premier multi-title esports tournament hosted by Asia’s leading Esports company Hero Esports, has announced that a total of six spots for the Esports World Cup are up for grabs in ACL Teamfight Tactics Tournament. Details regarding the tournament format, schedule and prize pool have also been unveiled.

The ACL Teamfight Tactics Tournament is set to commence on April 15 and will conclude on May 18. The total prize pool for the tournament amounts to $150,000, with six teams earning direct entry to the Esports World Cup.

Unlike previous Teamfight Tactics events, the ACL Teamfight Tactics Tournament features a 4V4 team battle format. This emphasis on teamwork will offer the audience a fresh and engaging viewing experience.

The ACL Teamfight Tactics Tournament is structured into three stages: Regional Qualifiers, Asian Challenge and ACL Grand Finals.

Registration for the tournament will open on March 23 and close on March 31. Teams must register in groups of four players. The Regional Qualifiers will be divided into APAC and CN regions. The eight highest-ranking teams from the APAC region and the seven highest-ranking teams from the CN region will qualify for the Regional Qualifiers. Team rankings are determined by the total points accumulated by the top three players in each team at the registration deadline. These points are calculated based on performance in the TFT Open, Tactician’s Crown and Regional Finals over the latest three seasons.

In the Regional Qualifiers, four teams from each region (APAC and CN region) will advance to the Asian Challenge through online competitions. The APAC Qualifier will take place from April 15 to 18, whereas the CN Qualifier is scheduled from April 24 to 27. Additionally, the top three teams from each region will secure spots in the Esports World Cup, while the fourth and fifth teams from each region will qualify for the Last Chance Qualifier of EWC.

In the Asian Challenge, which will take place from May 8 to 11, a total of eight teams from the Regional Qualifiers will compete for three spots in the Finals.

The post HERO ESPORTS Asian Champions League: 6 Spots for Esports World Cup Up for Grabs in Teamfight Tactics Tournament appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.