Kevin Lin Raises $24 Million Funding

Kevin Lin, a co-founder of Twitch, promised to “build again” when he left the firm in 2020. Two years later, he is putting the pieces together for an ambitious new venture.

Lin is the founder and CEO of Metatheory, a Web3 entertainment company that just raised a $24 million Series A funding round sponsored by Andreessen Horowitz, a well-known venture capital firm.

Metatheory, which debuted last year, takes a pop-culture perspective to the buzzy topic of blockchain development. The company’s initial project, Duskbreakers, is a game that awards players with NFTs if they “play to mint.” Andreessen Horowitz stated in a blog post announcing the investment that Duskbreakers now has a community of 20,000 participants. 

Meanwhile, Metatheory announced in a press release that the first run of 10,000 Duskbreakers NFTs sold out in just six days. Lin worked at Twitch for over a decade, starting when the streaming platform was still known as Justin.tv.

Lin said in a statement; “Building immersive digital experiences has always been a passion of mine, and after stepping away from Twitch to explore what’s next in the industry, I truly believe blockchain will open the door to even more possibilities and have a major impact in the gaming, storytelling and community building space. At Metatheory, we’ve built a team of industry vets who are focused on embracing blockchain across multiple media categories with a focus on elevating standards of customer experience and shared ownership.”

Metatheory’s approach to blockchain development relies heavily on its storytelling element. The company hopes to transform its games and interactive stories into successful franchises in the metaverse age.  

According to the company’s About page, “Metatheory’s mission is to inspire imagination by connecting people worldwide through immersive worlds built on cross-generational IP.”

Andreessen Horowitz, which previously invested heavily in Yuga Labs, the founder of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, is optimistic about the cultural potential of NFTs. The VC company stated in its announcement of support for Metatheory that “the next major creative franchise will be built from the bottom up through games and web3 primitives.” 

In addition to Andreessen Horowitz, Pantera Capital and FTX Ventures, as well as Breyer Capital, Merit Circle, Recharge Thematic Ventures, Dragonfly Capital Partners, Daedalus, Sfermion, and Global Coin Research, all participated to Metatheory’s Series A.