Ready Player Me seeks to build 'passport for the metaverse' after fundraising round

• Ready Player Me just raised $13 million in funding from big-name backers, including VC firm Taavet+Sten.
• The avatar technology company envisions building avatars that people can use across different virtual worlds.
• On its website, the startup said its avatars can be used in over 1,000 games and apps already.

Ready Player Me completed a $13 million funding round led by venture capital firm Taavet+Sten as the metaverse startup aims to create avatars that can be used across virtual worlds.

Calling itself a "connective passport for the metaverse," the company said its avatars are already being used in over 1,000 various games and apps.

Avatars can sport in-game "wearable" non-fungible tokens (NFTs), in the form of various digital clothes and accessories. Ready Player Me has partnered mainstream brands like Dior and New Balance, aligning with the recent virtual fashion boom in the metaverse.

The company will use the funding it just raised to scale up its network of partners and further build out monetization tools to help game developers sell NFTs and in-game avatar customization.

Other notable backers included the co-founder of GitHub, Tom Preston-Werner, as well as Samsung Next Ventures and Stefano Corazza, who is Adobe's head of augmented reality.

"2021 has been a breakout year for Ready Player Me -- our avatar platform adoption has grown from 25 to 900 companies," said CEO Timmu Tõke in a press release. "By giving people avatars that travel across virtual worlds, we can make the metaverse more connected."