Despite NFT Activity Slowdown, OpenSea Becomes Next Crypto Unicorn With $ 100 Million Round

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Devin Finzer, CEO of OpenSea

Devin Finzer

The OpenSea non-fungible token (NFT) market raised $ 100 million in a Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), showing that despite declining user numbers and trading volumes in NFT industry, venture capitalists are still extremely optimistic about its future. NFTs are unique digital collectibles such as works of art, collectible cards, event tickets, and music that are minted and traded on a blockchain.

In addition to returning investor a16z, the round includes new entrants such as investment management firm Coatue and Creative Artists Agency, as well as celebrity investor Ashton Kutcher. Other investors include Kevin Durant and Shawn Mendes.

The latest round secures OpenSea a valuation of $ 1.5 billion, making it the newest unicorn in the crypto world. It follows a $ 23 million Series A funding round in March 2021 led by a16z. However, it’s far from the biggest fundraiser in the NFT industry, as competitors Sorare and Dapper Labs raised $ 532 million and $ 305 million in July and March, respectively.

Anderessen Horowitz general partner, Kathryn Haun, will join the OpenSeas board of directors. The OpenSea team realized early on the need for an open, cross-blockchain marketplace where anyone can buy, sell and create digital NFTs, which is why they are one of the most important crypto companies today, Haun said. We’re excited to be doubling down on this team, their technology, and their global vision, as they continue to deliver the best user experience for today’s creators, buyers and sellers, all on one platform.

Funds from OpenSeas’ latest round will be used to continue to develop new cross-blockchain support for OpenSeas, improve the user experience as new chains are supported, and grow the team. Originally, OpenSea only supported the minting, buying and selling of NFT on Ethereum, which was plagued with congestion and high transaction fees. As part of today’s news, OpenSea is announcing support for the Ethereum Polygon scaling platform and the Klaytn blockchain, with plans to expand to Flow and Tezos to the to come up.

What we’ve seen over the past six months is just a ton of excitement around a new space from all walks of life, you know, more and more curious consumers, artists, celebrities, game developers, engineers, everyone is really mobilizing. this, you know, sounds a little cheesy, but we see it as some kind of brand new internet, CEO Devin Finzer said in an interview with Forbes. Now is the time to really go to the end and try to make a big impact in people’s lives. Ultimately, for us, it’s about enabling real economies to exist on the internet, which aren’t just part of completely closed ecosystems.

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