The Web3 space raised $7.1 billion in funding throughout 2022, with Gaming, Metaverse, and Social Networks being the top three investment categories, according to Metaverse Post’s year-end report.

The report took start-ups under Gaming, Metaverse, Social Networks, Infrastructure, Artificial Reality and Virtual Reality (AR &VR), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and calculated the exact investment amount collected as $7,169,997,888.

Despite the bear market, the sum is $4.8 billion higher than in 2021. Gaming came forward as the winning category by collecting $4.49 billion, which accounts for 62.5% of the total amount invested in Web3.

According to the report, Epic Games collected the most significant investment in 2022. The company raised $2 billion in funding from Sony and LEGO owner KIRKBI. Epic Games closed the year at a $31.5 billion valuation.

Metaverse

Metaverse followed Gaming as the second most popular category that attracted investment in 2022. According to the report, the metaverse sphere collected $1.82 billion in funding, which accounts for 25.4% of the total investment.

Creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) Yuga Labs became the second company that collected the largest sum in funding. In March, Yuga Labs raised $450 million in funding to launch Otherside metaverse.

Social Networks

Start-ups that launch social networking apps suitable for the decentralized and secure fashion of the Web3 were the third most popular category in the eyes of the investors. The category raised $259.1 million in 2022, compensating for 3.6% of the total amount invested in Web3.

CryptoSlate exclusive content with Phaver and with Aave and Lens Protocol, as well as Lens Protocol’s and Polkadot’s initiatives on the subject, highlight the need for Web3 social network protocols.

Infrastructure, AR & VR, and AI

The last three categories were Infrastructure, AR&VR, and AI, with $200.8 million, $178.6 million, and $136.5 million, respectively.

All falling under the infrastructure category, NFT-focused Immutable, Metaverse-focused Improbable, gaming-focused Sky Mavis, and start-up-focused AngelList also entered the top 10 start-ups that attracted the most prominent funding. Immutable raised $200 million in funding, AngelList collected $100 million, while Sky Mavis and Improbable secured $150 million each.

Biggest spenders

Four Venture Capital firms came forward as the biggest spenders this year, each sparing over $1 billion in investments.

Of these, Paradigm claimed first place by spending $2.5 billion in 2022. The company supported 31 projects, including Uniswap, Magic Eden, and Optimism

Andreessen Horowitz followed Paradigm as a close second with a total investment of $2.2 billion.

The Youngest Venture Capital of all, Hivemind, spared $1.5 billion in 2022 and secured third place in the ranking, while Binance Labs became the fourth by investing $1 billion.