Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd has announced several board appointments, strengthening its intellectual property rights, financial reach and leadership team as it seeks to capitalise on its early adoption of blockchain NFTs.
Animoca has established itself as a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain and gamification. The company develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including the REVV and SAND tokens, types of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that can be sold and traded on the digital market.
They’ve developed a slew of original games – The Sandbox, Crazy Kings and Crazy Defence Heroes with more pending release – and products using popular intellectual properties like Formula 1, Marvel, WWE, Power Rangers and MotoGP.
Read: Animoca Brands reveals Phantom Galaxies, an open world space opera RPG
“Visionary leadership.”
Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca, is leaving behind his non-executive chairman role to become group executive chairman and managing director of Animoca Brands, effective immediately.
Under his leadership, Animoca was transformed into a global leader in the delivery of digital property rights via blockchain and NFTs, and earlier this year the company obtained $1 billion 'unicorn' status.
“Yat has provided visionary leadership in shaping Animoca Brands, not only in developing an impressive product portfolio but also in driving a successful investment strategy and providing leadership in the digital property rights ecosystem globally,” Animoca board member Chris Whiteman said.
“With Yat’s official appointment to the chief executive role of the expanded company, we look forward to attaining new heights for Animoca Brands.”
“Stellar track record.”
Evan Auyang has also been appointed as group president for Animoca. He brings extensive experience in corporate leadership and organisational scaling across his 27 years in finance, management consulting and corporate leadership.
Auyang has held numerous board appointments over the years including:
- Managing director and head of international for the global expert insights firm GLG, where he ran and grew its business spanning Europe and Asia across 15 locations;
- Deputy managing director of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB), one of the world's largest commercial public transport companies;
- Board director of Transport International Holdings Limited, the parent company of KMB; and,
- An associate partner at McKinsey & Company, which he joined after working at Citigroup’s derivatives structuring and marketing unit.
“We are pleased to have Evan join us at this exciting moment of Animoca Brands’ development. Evan has a stellar track record of delivering transformative impact across multiple organizations and industries, and he brings essential capabilities in strategic thinking, organizational leadership, and execution,” Group executive chairman Yat Siu said.
Auyang has also served on several boards as an independent non-executive director and has been appointed as an advisor or committee member for multiple civic, governmental and non-profit organisations, including Our Hong Kong Foundations, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Hong Kong Council of Social services among others.
He obtained his undergraduate degree in Economics and Political Science from Brown University and his MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management.
“Animoca Brands is a global leader in the rapidly growing digital assets NFT ecosystem, and I am proud and excited to join Yat and the leadership team in shaping the company in its next stages of growth,” says Evan Auyang.
“I see endless opportunities in this space and I feel truly privileged to be in a position to contribute to not only shaping Animoca Brands but also positively contributing to the industry.”
North American operations CEO
Animoca has also appointed Robby Yung as CEO of its North American operations. Yung has served as CEO of Animoca Brands since 2014 and has been instrumental in guiding the company through the different stages of development, investment and acquisition.
“I am very excited for Robby to use his deep experience and leadership to advance Animoca Brands in North America, where our subsidiaries are experiencing rapid growth and where we see tremendous opportunities for further development,” says Yat Siu.
Animoca’s recent announcement of its partnership with Snoop Dog for its The SandBox subsidiary and its soon-to-be-released game, Phantom Galaxies, indicate the company will likely be focusing much of its resources in the North American market.
Read: Animoca Brands players can now party with Snoop Dogg
“I am honoured to continue building and adding to our already impressive portfolio by focusing my attention on our growing businesses in the US and Canada,” says Robby Yung.
“There are excellent opportunities to expand and shape our operations and investments in this region where gaming and digital assets ownership trends are among the most significant globally.”