The non-fungible token auction marketplace giant OpenSea has a rousing 2021. And lots of big things are going on for the NFT company.
When NFTs suddenly exploded earlier this year, the startup found the best position in a niche space.
Since then, OpenSea has seen its user base grow, its total sales volume skyrocket, and more investors pumping in more money at them.
Impressive roster of investors
OpenSea announced a $23 million Series A round in March. And now, four months later, the company tells TechCrunch that it has raised another $100 million in a Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz, (a.k.a A16z), at a $1.5 billion valuation.
Coatue, CAA, Michael Ovitz, Kevin Hartz, Kevin Durant, and Ashton Kutcher are among the other investors in the round.
According to chief executive Devin Finzer, OpenSea made $160 million in sales last month and is on course to top this figure this month.
Despite a huge drop in the early summer, the broader NFT market has been consistently moving forward, and OpenSea is witnessing a lot of activity.
“The fundraiser is all about bringing widespread adoption to NFTs,” Finzer said. “And it’s about growing the platform that we’ve built, which has seen significant volume growth over the last the first half of the year.”
Finzer and his group think NFTs are “one of those once every couple of decades paradigm shifts that are just incredibly exciting.”
Long-term plans for improvement
OpenSea is gunning for long-term scalability by announcing plans to add support for several more blockchains to its platform.
In addition to Polygon, OpenSea intends to integrate with Dapper Labs’ Flow Blockchain as well as Tezos in the future.
Operating across multiple blockchains may cause some issues for consumers who use platforms with varying levels of support for each network.
However, the user-friendly changes will most likely be well received by the larger NFT community, which has seen an increase in new interest to stress-test its systems and highlight the need for user interface and user experience improvements.
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