Candy Digital, a nonfungible token (NFT) startup, has raised $100 million in funding to extend its product portfolio and creative capabilities, marking yet another significant milestone for the fast-growing NFT market.
Candy Digital announced Thursday that the funds will be used to extend its NFT product offerings across the global sports marketplace, including the creation of new fan experiences.
Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association, Race Team Alliance, and various collegiate athletes are among Candy’s current relationships.
Connect Ventures, Will Ventures, Gaingels, Com2Us, and Athletes Syndicate all participated in the Series A investment, which was sponsored by private equity companies Insight Partners and Softbank Vision Fund 2.
Professional sports are increasingly looking to NFTs to increase fan engagement, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, which cost the major leagues an estimated $18 billion in revenue.
The loss of money as a result of lockdowns, according to credit card giant Visa, has put further pressure on professional sports to “diversify revenue and focus on technology” in order to re-capture fans’ interest.
According to market tracker DappRadar, the NFT buying frenzy accelerated in the third quarter, with sales of digital collectibles reaching a new high of $10.7 billion.
This is an increase of eightfold over the previous quarter. Although OpenSea continues to be the leading market for NFT sales, this may soon change as more known businesses enter the field.
Coinbase is aiming to start its own NFT marketplace. Under 48 hours, 1.1 million people signed up for the “Coinbase NFT” waitlist. Meanwhile, in June, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, established its own NFT platform.
TikTok, a popular social media platform, has also launched its first step into the NFT industry with a new collection inspired by some of its most well-known trendsetters.
If the first NFT drops are successful, TikTok, which has over 1 billion subscribers worldwide, could bring more public exposure to digital treasures.
