CHILLCHAT, THE “CREATE2EARN” METAVERSE, CLOSES US$1.85M SEED EQUITY FUNDING ROUND, LED BY SOLANA VENTURES

• Chillchat is building the pocket metaverse: A “Create2Earn” virtual world focused on user-generated content where players can quickly and easily create NFTs in the form of characters, pets, worlds, and more — all on mobile or browser — and instantly buy, sell, or trade with other players.

• Led by Solana Ventures, investors in the seed equity raise include FTX Ventures, Animoca Brands, Griffin Gaming Partners, plus others.

• Chillchat will use the seed equity investment to fortify its Web3 development capabilities, focused on NFT technology and blockchain gaming.

Chillchat, the “Create2Earn” pixel art metaverse, has raised US$1.85 million in seed equity funding, led by Solana Ventures. Bringing Chillchat’s equity valuation to US$10 million, the seed equity round included participation from key blockchain-gaming and Web3 leaders: FTX Ventures, Animoca Brands, Griffin Gaming Partners, A&T Capital, YGGSEA; plus Infinity Ventures Crypto, Diamond Hands Ventures and the PKO Investments syndicate. Notable advisors from PKO Investments include Kevin Lin (Twitch co-founder), Kun Gao (Crunchyroll co-founder), Holly Liu (Kabam co-founder), Patrick Lee (Rotten Tomatoes co-founder), Nigel Eccles (FanDuel co-founder), and more.

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Built as a “Create2Earn” platform, Chillchat is a pixel art gaming metaverse that runs on the Solana blockchain. The power to make characters, stories, and entire worlds from scratch is placed entirely in the hands of its community. With its simple yet fast and powerful tools, Chillchat aims to become the “pocket metaverse” — that is always within reach through a mobile or browser. Players can use Chillchat’s Pixel Editor to create NFTs such as characters, tile sets, pets, emotes, and items; its World Builder to create new worlds, tile by tile; and the World Scripting tool to convert worlds into fully functional games.

The US$1.85 million seed equity funding will be used to expand Chillchat’s product and growth teams, to further develop innovative Web3 tools, channels, and infrastructure for users to virtually interact with each other and digitally express their ingenuity. This goal reflects Chillchat’s objective to offer a perpetually expanding, community-built metaverse that fosters interpersonal connections and collaboration.

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James Au, Chillchat chief executive officer, said: “We’re aiming to build a casual social-gaming metaverse, so we chose the Solana blockchain as we believe it is the best consumer blockchain with low fees and high speed. Getting strategic support from Solana Ventures helps us grow and turn our dream into reality. We’re thrilled to have Solana lead our seed equity raise.”

Johnny Lee, Head of Games BD at Solana Labs, said: “From our first meeting and play test with Chillchat, we saw not only a very professional and dedicated team, but a unique and fun creation tool UI that has the potential to bring blockchain UGC to all types of players. Chillchat stands out in its model where players not only have the option of ‘play to earn’ but to also use their imagination and ‘create to earn.’ We believe Chillchat will be an important leader in the Web3 space as it becomes part of mainstream ‘social gaming’ in the near future.”

On January 21, 2022, Chillchat conducted a successful NFT public sale to mint 1,000 of its 1,500 limited “Origin” characters. The handcrafted and animated Origins, that will spawn all future Chillchat characters, were sold out in seconds, at 2 SOL (~US$240) per NFT. Within four weeks, their value jumped — to a current floor price of 37.5 SOL (~US$4,000) and the highest secondary-market ticket at 100 SOL (~US$10,500). The current total sales volume for Chillchat Origins is 27,097 SOL (~US$2,800,000).

On February 25, 8 p.m. UTC, Chillchat will launch its public auction of an additional 350 Origin NFTs. The 35-week auction program, selling 10 Origins every Friday, will aim to place the remaining 350 Chillchat Origins NFTs in the hands of users — who are charged with expanding the first-generation lineage by creating new characters of the next generation, and onwards. The Chillchat Origins Auction will be held on Magic Eden as well as other popular NFT marketplaces in the future.