Dubai-based technology start-up Rekt Studios has raised $1.5 million in a new funding round from blockchain and Web3 venture capital firm Cypher Capital, as the start-up aims to launch its first gaming metaverse.
Called Unseen, the project will allow producers to create games, experiences, metaverse buildings and digital assets, the company said on Thursday.
“The new funding will not only enable further game development but will also fuel expansion and the studio’s marketing efforts,” said Bill Qian, a board member at Rekt Studio.
“Our immediate goal is to provide the Middle East with a distinct and accessible gaming ecosystem, while also establishing the region as the most prominent space for abundant opportunities in this space.”
Founded last year, Rekt Studios specialises in using blockchain and emerging technology to create new products and provide consulting and implementation services.
It focuses on creating immersive and interactive Web3 games, experiences and virtual environments.
Unseen is an “immersive fully interoperable decentralised virtual ecosystem” that will be centred on gaming, entertainment, and real-world utility.
The ecosystem will also offer opportunities for users to invest, create, sell and buy digital assets and experiences, the company said.
The metaverse is the emerging space where people, represented by avatars or 3D representations, can interact in virtual worlds. It is part of Web3, the next evolutionary step of the internet, with blockchain, decentralisation, openness and greater user utility among its core components.
Dubai and other emirates have taken several steps to integrate the metaverse into the UAE's economy and society.
In July, the emirate's government unveiled the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, which aims to create 40,000 jobs and add $4 billion to the emirate's economy in the next five years.
“Rekt Studios’ upcoming value-driven ecosystem Unseen showcases the maturity of the industry and its limitless potential,” said Bijan Alizadeh, co-founder and partner at Cypher Capital.
“We are very excited to be investing in this project and cannot wait to see what the future holds for Rekt Studios, within both the business as well as the immersive world that they are building.
"Unseen’s proprietary virtual economy that leverages emerging technologies and integrates them at the core of human interactions is unprecedented.”
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Meydan race card
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh125,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,200m
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh170,000 (D) 1,900m
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 (D)1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
