Web3 engine platform Nefta raises $5 million

Nefta, a UK-based Web3 in gaming and entertainment startup, announced raising $5 million in a seed round led by venture firm Play Ventures' Future Fund.

The deal was supported by Nefta's existing investor Picus Capital together with SevenX Ventures, Sfermion, MZ and Polygon Ventures. Picus Capital supplied $2.5 million, making it the largest Future Fund ticket to date, following on from $1 million it had provided last June.

Founded in 2022, Nefta provides an end-to-end platform to build, launch and scale Web3 games. The team features a number of seasoned Web3 practitioners from the likes of Google Play, Adcolony, Outfit7.

Seed funding secured, Nefta wants to accelerate hiring across its team and believes its market presence is about to take off on the back of the "huge industry interest" generated by its Web3 tech stack. Existing gaming studios partnered with Nefta include MoonGaming, Viker, Mystic Games, and Gami.

Web3 innovators have embraced gaming possibilities like distributed ownership and in-game micropurchases, providing a lucrative side channel to blockchain-driven crypto markets.  Nefta proposes to go further by leveraging its games Web3 expertise to also explore other vertical applications, starting with a pending Q1 product launch for its new Web3 advertising network.

Music, beauty and festival companies are said to be among those vocalising interest.

The advertising platform uses Web3's privacy features to lock user data while sharing key metrics to advertisers, helping them draw up targeted marketing campaigns.

Geeshan Willink, Nefta founder, said: "Play Ventures has one of the best portfolios in the world for gaming and Web3. Receiving one of the largest investments from its Future Fund demonstrates their conviction in our team, products, and vision.

"With their support, we’re able to power the next evolution of game economies, showcasing the benefits of blockchain to help our partners build, grow and scale Web3 ecosystems.”

Play Ventures general partner, Kenrick Drijkoningen, added: "We’ve seen outstanding progress from Nefta since their inception in 2022.

"They’ve grown at a rapid pace, and their Web3 end-to-end building and scaling platform has already generated huge industry interest. Nefta was a natural investment choice for us, and their tool box will be an invaluable support to other members within the Play Ventures community.”