Admix merges with Landvault to move into making metaverse experiences

Admix is merging with Landvault, a builder in metaverse worlds like The Sandbox and Decentraland, as it pivots into Web3. The combined company will be known as Landvault and will have a valuation of $300 million.

Landvault is a prolific builder of virtual experiences in worlds aimed at attracting people into blockchain and metaverse ecosystems. Landvault had more than 100 specialized metaverse designers and developers. Now the new company is basically a metaverse experience builder, or a metaverse construction company, with a total of 180 people.

By merging with Landvault, Admix aims to become a go-to service provider for major intellectual property holders and brands, enabling big companies across all industries to enter the metaverse and be montized with Admix’s in-game advertising technology, said Sam Huber, CEO of Admix, in an email to GamesBeat. Huber will lead the combined company as CEO.

“We are integrating Landvault (creative capabilities) and Admix (monetization tech) to become a one-stop-shop offering for brands or IP to enter the metaverse,” Huber said.

Admix’s roots were in providing tech to embed advertising inside games. It essentially lets brands put product placements inside places where gamers will see them. Admix is now pivoting out of the crowded and “ultra-dominated duopoly of Web2 adtech. And it’s moving into the “blue ocean” of Web3, or decentralized blockchain experiences, where competition is low and standards are yet to be defined, Huber said.

“In an immersive environment like the metaverse, we foresee that intrusive advertising will disappear and native and in-play experiences will become the de-facto standard, giving us an edge,” Huber said. With these added capabilities, we can now build content in the metaverse before we monetize it using our technology, going ‘vertical’ and capturing more value. We have already proven this model by helping several brands like L’Oreal enter the DCL Fashion week, and other projects still in progress.”

The new mission

LandVault will be a platform-agnostic construction company focused on The Sandbox, Decentraland, and NFT World metaverses to facilitate the entry of major brands into the metaverse.

The newly merged entity has $25 million in growth capital from Admix’s Series B round last October, and a roster of large brands seeking to enter the metaverse. The combined entity also attracted new investors’ interest and a value of $300 million.

Founded in 2018, Admix has grown into an in-play platform, connecting game creators and advertisers via non-intrusive product placements. The company works with the largest mobile publishers, from Gameloft to Supersonic, as well as dozens of brands including McDonalds, Calvin Klein and Formula1 — helping them reach their audience in mobile games. It has more than 500 advertisers and has worked on 600 gaming and virtual world experiences.

Admix has raised $37 million in funding so far and recently launched a Web3 metaverse offering, helping brands setting up metaverse experiences. That revenue stream quickly overtook the media revenue built over the last two years, which prompted Admix to acquire resources to enter the metaverse in-house.

Founded in 2021, LandVault has quickly grown into the largest builder within The Sandbox, growing from five to 100 builders in six months, and delivering over 30 activations for Web3 projects and brands.

Sam Huber, founder and CEO of Admix, will lead the merged company with LandVault’s founders moving on to a new venture. The entire management team stays on and will operate autonomously, operating under the LandVault brand, and will work to bring in brands to the metaverse while still developing proprietary projects like LandVault Plaza, Genesis token, and Creation Game.

“It’s a very complementary merger,” said Huber. “Since the early days of Admix, our vision has always been to build tools for brands to enter new digital and virtual environments. We find the metaverse as the perfect playground to expand that vision for the decade to come. With our new entity and heritage gaming focused company Admix, we feel a responsibility to build the metaverse responsibly – with great content that will delight users. But we also have a proven tech stack and development team to develop tools that accelerate the metaverse economy.”

Ryan Inman, founder of LandVault, said in a statement, “The merger with Admix gives LandVault enhanced opportunities to lead this metaverse. The two companies have substantial financial resources and thousands of brand partners between them. Combined with the best development team in the business, these are strong attributes that will take LandVault to the next level.”

Admix has helped thousands of brands target a gaming audience, including F1, Doritos, Calvin Klein, and Facebook Gaming, led by a vision to eliminate intrusive ads and create better ways for brands to enter gaming environments and virtual worlds. The merged LandVault will leverage Admix’s strong relationships with major brands to accelerate onboarding them to the metaverse.

The metaverse is well on its way to becoming an integral part of e-commerce. LandVault is targeting an opportunity recently valued at over $1 trillion in yearly revenues by analysts at JPMorgan Chase. The same report notes that heavyweight brands, including Walmart, Gap, Microsoft, Nike, and JPMorgan Chase itself, are entering the metaverse at an increasing rate.