Quick take:
The fundraising also attracted significant interest from the gaming, blockchain, and technology sectors.
Its goal is to build a platform that redefines how games are played, published, and monetized, returning value to those who deserve it most – gamers, developers, and publishers.
The new capital will be used to hire top-tier talent, continue expanding and upgrading the Ultra platform.
Ultra has raised $12 million in a funding round led by Luxembourg-based multi-family office NOIA Capital through its NOIA Digital Assets fund. The fundraising also attracted interest from the gaming, blockchain, and technology sectors, according to a press release shared with NFTgators.
Ultra is building “the one-stop gaming platform” that redefines how games are played, published, and monetized, with the main goal being to return value to those who deserve it most, including gamers, developers, and publishers.
According to the announcement, the company’s goal is to combine traditional gaming with cutting-edge technology, including digital assets, as it bids to challenge the industry’s “outdated models”, particularly in Europe, which it says is lagging behind competitor markets.
The announcement follows the appointment of Gus van Rijckevorsel as CEO. He is renowned for being a “transformational leader and a serial entrepreneur.”
According to Ultra, the massive growth of the gaming industry and audience demands new models of distribution and engagement, and that is what its platform tries to address as it builds at the intersection of emerging technologies and digital assets.
Commenting on the announcement, Gus van Rijckevorsel, CEO at Ultra said in a statement: “The gaming industry has been sitting on the sidelines for decades – too stubborn to change, too afraid to take a risk and think outside the box, and unable to reimagine what the future of gaming could look like.”
Rijckevorsel used Netflix as an example, highlighting how it redefined media consumption, adding that Ultra’s goal is to do the same for the gaming industry.
“Today’s fundraise is only just the beginning, and this year, we have ambitious plans to break the mold of the traditional game development and distribution cycle and push the boundaries of player experience and ownership,” he said.
Acknowledging Ultra’s leadership and vision, Muhammed Yesilhark, CIO at NOIA Capital, commented: “Ultra is bringing the kind of bold, disruptive thinking that the gaming industry desperately needs. Gus and his team have a clear vision for the future, backed by a strong tech foundation and a strategic roadmap that puts Ultra in a position to challenge legacy players.”
Ultra’s leadership was recently boosted by the appointment of Maxime van Steenberghe, a former partner at Circle Strategies, as the gaming company’s Chief Operating Officer.
Some of the popular blockchain games on Ultra include Ubisoft’s Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles, Poly Gunnerz, Katana Inu and Phantom Galaxies. Most of the games on the platform are available in both Web3 and non-Web3.
The Web3 gaming aspects of Ultra are powered by the company’s high-performance layer-1, the Ultra Blockchain, designed for consumer-facing applications.
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