Binance Labs, the venture capital arm and accelerator of Binance, invested $4 million in Ultimate Champions, a Web3 sports game platform that will be “built on the BNB Chain.”
Ultimate Champions will use the funds raised “to further develop its games, secure additional sports partnerships, and grow its community.”
Eventually, Ultimate Champions will be “deployed on the BNB Chain and will land on the Binance Fan Token Platform, allowing players to supercharge their fan experience and better engage with their favorite teams.”
Ultimate Champions has also “started an exclusive partnership with EuroLeague, a top professional basketball management company in Europe, and will expand into fantasy basketball next year.”
Yi He, Co-Founder of Binance and Head of Binance Labs, commented:
“The world of Web3 gaming is expanding and Binance Labs is looking for Web3 gaming projects that have missions of providing real entertainment to the users rather than the ones focusing on giving out more opportunities to ‘earn’.”
Released in April 2022, the Ultimate Champions platform “initially focused on football, offering enhanced gameplay and an easy user experience, with each player assuming the position of a sports club manager.”
The team has partnered “with more than 45 football clubs in Europe across nine leagues, including Arsenal F.C., VfL Wolfsburg, Stade de Reims, and more.” All games are in sync ‘with real-world sporting event calendars, and the live performance of each athlete will be translated into a virtual score.”
Charlie Guillemot, Co-Founder of Ultimate Champions, said:
“Ultimate Champions’ ambition is to bring Web3 sports gaming to a wider audience with a fun, accessible, and free-to-play experience. We are extremely happy to innovate and expand the Web3 sports gaming ecosystem with Binance Labs. Also, we believe that BNB Chain can be the robust platform on which our game can flourish.”
Alex Odagiu, Investment Director at Binance Labs, commented:
“We see the massive potential that Web3 brings to the way sports clubs, players and their fans connect with each other online. On top of using digital collectibles as a medium for fan engagement, Ultimate Champions supports a player-centric gameplay and a walletless onboarding. This mechanism not only facilitates more flexible and long-lasting ways for players to engage with their favorite sports clubs, but also makes blockchain gaming ever more accessible. We look forward to working with the Ultimate Champions team to bring greater benefits to gamers of all stripes.”
As clarified in the update, this investment of Binance Labs “does not guarantee the outcome of the project or product, including the listing.”
As the venture capital arm and accelerator of Binance, Binance Labs is “on the continued lookout for the next big Web3 innovation.”
Since 2018, Binance Labs has “invested in more than 200 projects from 25 countries. It has also incubated more than 50 projects that are native to Web3 through the Binance Labs Incubation Program, including Polygon, Perpetual Protocol and Dune Analytics.”
As of August 2022, Binance Labs claims it is “the largest crypto VC in the industry by Asset Under Management (AuM) of $7.5 billion with a Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC) of 21.0x.”