Web3 gaming firm Orange Cap Games has closed a $3.5 million seed round led by crypto venture firm 1kx and NFT giant Yuga Labs. Announced on June 10, the round also saw participation from Bing Ventures, Infinity Ventures Crypto, and a list of angel investors. This funding comes just nine months after their $2 million pre-seed round last September.

The capital will fuel Orange Cap's efforts to build new IP-driven products and grow its existing titles, including the popular Vibes TCG and recently acquired Moonbirds NFT collection. The team stated that it aims to bring IP "to life" through games and digital collectibles which blur the line between physical and blockchain play.

Early Backers and Growth Vision

1kx partner Peter, also known as @pet3rpan_, shared his belief that Orange Cap Games is poised to become a major crypto-native IP powerhouse. In his words, "The world's biggest IP to emerge over the next decade will have their roots in crypto." He added that onchain tools will create space for new storytelling models that were never possible before.

The seed round follows a $2 million angel round that Orange Cap held in late 2024. That earlier raise featured a wide range of web3 veterans and creative executives. Notable names included Dapper Labs' Amber, ex-Marvel Studios CFO Matt Finick, and leaders from Crunchyroll, YGG, and 9gag. This first funding helped launch Vibes, a hybrid trading card game that uses the Pudgy Penguins IP.

What Is Orange Cap Games?

Orange Cap Games is a web3 game studio known for building products that merge collectible culture with blockchain tech. Its first game, Vibes TCG, brings characters from the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection into a physical-meets-digital card game experience. Since its launch, Vibes has sold over four million cards and hosted more than 350,000 online matches globally.

The company is also the creator of Orange Core Paper, a custom-designed card material engineered for high shuffle durability and smooth gameplay. 

With backing from Yuga Labs and others, Orange Cap is now scaling its development capabilities and setting the stage for broader entertainment IP built natively in crypto.

Acquiring Moonbirds: A Big Shift in Web3 Gaming

On May 30, Orange Cap Games made headlines with the acquisition of Moonbirds, one of the top NFT projects first created by Kevin Rose under the Proof collective. The purchase from Yuga Labs includes the main Moonbirds collection along with Mythics and Oddities.

The deal marks a major shift in strategy for Yuga, which is narrowing its focus to core brands like BAYC and the Otherside metaverse. Earlier in 2025, Yuga had also sold off Meebits and CryptoPunks to other parties.

Yuga CEO Greg Solano stated on social media that Moonbirds is now in the hands of a team "whose whole world is the birds," praising Orange Cap for its detail-focused approach to brand building.

What's Next for Moonbirds?

Orange Cap Games has not yet shared full plans for Moonbirds but confirmed they are working on new content. Any future onchain assets will likely launch either on Ethereum layer-1 or ApeChain, Yuga's L2 network. With that, Moonbirds characters will still appear in Yuga's Otherside game, preserving ties to that larger metaverse.

The floor price of Moonbirds NFTs jumped from 0.295 ETH to 0.9 ETH in the days following the announcement. Trading volume also surged, with over 1,000 transactions in just a week.

This acquisition signals a new phase for the Moonbirds brand, which debuted in April 2022 with over $280 million in sales during its launch weekend. 

A Strategic Bet on Crypto IP

The deal is also part of a wider trend in NFT and web3 gaming: narrowing focus to fewer, higher-potential brands while exploring more immersive use cases. For Orange Cap, integrating Moonbirds into its product lineup could mean more than just PFPs; it might lead to trading card sets, game avatars, or even Moonbirds-themed game titles.