Andreessen Horowitz led a Series B investment round for OpenSea, the $100 million raised gives the company a $1.5 billion valuation.
OpenSea, a renowned NFT marketplace, has become the latest crypto unicorn.
After collecting $100 million in a Series B round spearheaded by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), the company received a $1.5 billion valuation.
Coatue, Creative Artists Agency, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Durant, and Shawn Mendes were among the other attendees, in addition to a16z. The funding followed a16z’s $23 million Series A financing in March.
The increase comes at a time when the NFT market is cooling. Since the crypto market crashed in May, the value of many NFTs has plunged, as has trading volume.
OpenSea, on the other hand, does not appear to have been harmed. In June, it made $160 million in revenues, thanks to rising demand for ventures like Bored Ape Yacht Club and Cool Cats (OpenSea takes a 2.5 percent cut from every sale). Bored Apes started trading at 0.03 ETH in May and has since risen to nearly 7 ETH on OpenSea.
As indicated by the increasing number of NFT artworks that have surfaced on social media in recent weeks, so-called “avatar projects” have been a major driving force for the NFT market. Jay-Z surprised the internet by changing his Twitter avatar to a CryptoPunk.
Although OpenSea intends to expand to other blockchains, the most popular NFTs today are primarily found on Ethereum. As it expands its product, the online marketplace expects to use the capital to improve its user experience and grow its personnel. Polygon and Klaytn support have been announced, with Flow and Tezos support to follow.