Here at Startup Savant, we love startup culture. That’s why we identified the most exciting, innovative, and creative metaverse startups to watch in 2024 and beyond. From gamified experiences with built-in NFT markets to platforms allowing dedicated sports fans to invest in their favorite teams — these are the top metaverse companies to follow.
Top Metaverse Companies to Watch
Every year, new startups pull to the forefront of their industry through exciting innovation and industry-disrupting business models. We’ve rounded up the most exciting metaverse startups of 2024 that startup-lovers, investors, and aspiring entrepreneurs should follow.
Disclaimer: With so many exciting startups launching and growing worldwide, we aren’t able to cover them all. Furthermore, the startups that are listed below are not officially ranked and are listed in no particular order.
1. The Sandbox
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: Series B, $93 Million
The Sandbox is one of the most rapidly growing metaverse startups in the world and has received an incredible amount of startup capital and funding in order to accelerate its growth. Published and developed by Pixowl, a blockchain gaming developer subsidiary of Animoca brands, The Sandbox allows users to monetize and trade virtual assets on the Ethereum blockchain. The cryptocurrency token $SAND is used for these transactions. Additionally, their platform allows users to see three-dimensional animated objects and NFTs as well as take advantage of no-code in-game visual scripting.
2. GuildFi
Location: Thailand
Funding: Seed, $6.3 Million
GuildFi is a metaverse startup that’s working to develop a web 3.0 framework and infrastructure to connect games, NFTs, and communities. The growth of GuildFi has been rapid, and it quickly grew past 100,000 users. For anyone who wants to take their gaming in the metaverse to the next level, the GuildFi team’s vision is to provide an easy-to-implement framework for developers all over the world to use. They received seed funding from Hashed, DeFiance Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Dapper Labs, and Pantera Capital.
3. PolkaWar
Location: Singapore
Funding: Seed, $1.4 Million
PolkaWar is an innovative metaverse startup that merges decentralized finance (Defi) and NFT gaming into one. In PolkaWar, players can create a character and then battle against other players. It features a built-in NFT marketplace where players can sell their in-game items such as weapons or upgraded equipment and receive cryptocurrency in return.
4. NextMeet
Location: India
Funding: Angel, $200,000
NextMeet is an avatar-based metaverse platform that allows users to collaborate, work remotely, attend meetings, and enjoy distance learning and networking. It is intended to be a central hub for education, business, and events in the metaverse. Whether you’re a student, employee, or business owner, you can socialize and work with others from all over the world.
5. Seamm
Location: United States
Funding: Seed, $1.7 Million
Seamm is a virtual fashion startup bringing real-world styles to your avatar in the metaverse. The startup works with fashion houses and designers to create digital duplicates of their collections for users to outfit themselves in the metaverse.
6. Zash
Location: United Kingdom
Funding: Unknown
Zash is a Web 3.0 startup built to supercharge NFT offerings and provide business intelligence related to NFT marketplaces. Users will be able to understand the entire NFT ecosystem and know exactly what the hottest collections are, what the competition is doing, and how competitors are moving and growing their market share. Zash has a live and proprietary database of market data, collections, and projects related to NFTs.
7. PlayersOnly
Location: United States
Funding: Unknown
PlayersOnly was built as the first decentralized sports metaverse where everyone from fans, teams, athletes, and brands can build a local community and interact with one another. They leveraged DeFi and created a marketplace where digital collections and digital experiences can be shared. PlayersOnly supports athletes and allows fans to invest in their favorite teams and players easily.
8. Union Avatars
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Funding: Seed, $1.5 Million
Union Avatars is a metaverse startup that allows users to create a realistic avatar out of a single selfie. You can create your metaverse character and make them match exactly what you look like in real life. Additionally, they also offer a full-body character creation tool that allows you to customize what your avatar looks like.