Branch
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A virtual office platform for remote teams that evolved into a Web3 social gaming studio.
About
Branch started as an enterprise virtual office platform designed to recreate the spontaneity and collaboration of in-person work for remote teams. Built by high school dropouts turned Minecraft server entrepreneurs, the platform used spatial audio technology so users could only hear nearby colleagues, mimicking real office dynamics. Branch attracted 500+ companies to its waitlist and averaged 12-hour user sessions. In 2022, the company pivoted to Web3 gaming under the Castaways brand โ a massively multiplayer, browser-based survival game described as 'Animal Crossing meets Minecraft with a bit of Runescape.' The pivot leveraged the founders' deep gaming roots and spatial technology expertise. Branch raised a $12.5M seed round from top crypto-native investors to fund development of Castaways, which uses blockchain technology and NFTs for in-game asset ownership while remaining free-to-play and accessible without a wallet.
DailyDropout Take
Branch caught our eye as a virtual office built by gamers who actually understood what makes digital spaces feel alive. The founders' Minecraft background gave them an intuitive grasp of spatial community-building that enterprise collaboration tools lacked. Their pivot to Web3 gaming with Castaways showed the same instinct โ applying spatial technology where community engagement matters most.
Discovery signal: Unusually young founders with deep gaming community roots, strong angel investor roster (Naval, Sahil Lavingia), and impressive early retention metrics for a virtual office product.
What Makes Them Unique
Branch's founders brought deep gaming community-building experience from Minecraft into the enterprise remote work space, then pivoted that same spatial technology and community expertise into Web3 gaming with Castaways.
500+ companies
Waitlist (Virtual Office)
60%
30-Day Retention
12 hours
Avg Session Length
1K to 300K users (Sept-Nov 2022)
Castaways Growth
Target Markets
Founders
Dayton Mills
Co-Founder & CEO
High school dropout who started building Minecraft servers at age 15. Attempted to start a game studio at 13. Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2022.
Kai Micah Mills
Co-Founder
Dropped out of high school to run Minecraft servers full-time, earning thousands of dollars per month building virtual communities for gamers.
Funding History
Lead: Homebrew
Lead: Dragonfly Capital
Investors
Firms
Individual Investors
Founder, AngelList
Founder & CEO, Gumroad
Founder & CEO, DoNotPay
Former CEO, Polygon Studios
General Partner, a16z Games
Co-Founder & CEO, Limit Break
Co-Founder, Yield Guild Games
Co-Founder, Sky Mavis (Axie Infinity)