Illiquid iCandy up 20% as Telegram game JV snags US$4M seed – but impact unclear

iCandy Interactive (ASX:ICI) has had success in the U.S. finance landscape, seeing its Telegram app-based gaming JV, ZKCandy, fetching US$4M in seed funding from investors.

The thinly traded stock jumped +20% in the second hour of trades, to 2.4cps, though one-year returns remain down 35%. As many as 6.3 million shares traded hands as of 11.15 Sydney time, compared to a four-week average of 380,000.

Perhaps more important than what the company raised the money for is where it raised the money – far away from the sunny Australian shores, the company tapped the goliath-sized U.S. capital market with far more ease.

Then again, what it’s raising the money for ties into that: Its “Web3 Layer 2 Network joint venture.”

In other words, the company is making games hosted on the app Telegram (‘Web3’ coding allows you to do that these days) and then attached to those games are digital wallets.

In-game purchases, baby. But the company could be onto something.

According to iCandy (speaking for ZKCandy), its test rollout version of Telegram gaming products reportedly saw 2.4M wallets created in just 14 days. It’s unclear if one must establish a wallet simply to try out the game.

Still, the numbers suggest potential. The other JV partner constituting ZKCandy is a privately held entity called Matter Labs which operates in a space not dissimilar to iCandy.

That said, the company shied away from suggesting the seed funding will create value for Australian shareholders.

“The funding round of ZKCandy may potentially have a positive financial impact on the financials of iCandy as the ZKCandy business can now develop further with its own funding,” the company wrote.

“However, the iCandy management is not able to quantify the financial impact of this positive development currently. iCandy will be accounting for this joint venture using the equity method.”

ICI last traded at 2.4cps.

Join the discussion: See what HotCopper users are saying about iCandy and be part of the conversations that move the markets.

The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For full disclaimer information, please click here.