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A $300 million funding round led by Coatue and Paradigm increased OpenSea’s valuation at $13.3 billion. The NFT marketplace vowed to employ the investment into four categories: accelerate product development, improve customer support, invest in the wider NFT and Web3 community, and grow its team.
Surpassing a $13 Billion Valuation
In a recent blogpost, Devin Finzer – Co-Founder of OpenSea – said his company’s mission is to become the “world’s friendliest and most trusted NFT marketplace with the best selection.” To complete that vision, the entity raised $300 million in Series C funding, putting its valuation at a whopping $13.3 billion.
Interestingly, OpenSea was valued at $1.5 billion just half a year ago. Back then, the leading American venture capital firm – Andreessen Horowitz – led a $100 million funding round.
Hedge fund sponsors such as Paradigm and Coatue led the current investment. OpenSea described them as “incredible partners, thinkers, and builders” that have the ability to bring “best in class consumer experiences.”
The hegemon in the NFT space revealed it will distribute the $300 million to fulfill four different goals.
First, the company intends to accelerate product development. As such, it has already hired Shiva Rajaraman as the firm’s new VP of Product. The exec has previously worked at Meta, YouTube, and Spotify.
Second, OpenSea vowed to improve its clients’ support policy. “We’ve already scaled our customer support and trust and safety teams to more than 60 people and expect to more than double that team by the end of this year,” Finzer informed.
Third, the company wants to invest in the broader NFT ecosystem. It added that in Q1 2022, it plans to launch a grant program that would enable direct support for developers, builders, and creators, shaping the future of the non-fungible token space.
Lastly, OpenSea will welcome onboard motivated individuals who want to become part of the growing NFT universe. “We couldn’t be more excited about the journey ahead,” Finzer concluded, reminding about the 600x increase which his company achieved in trading volume in 2021.
BAYC Exceeded $1 Billion in Total Trading Volume on OpenSea
One of the most popular NFT collections on OpenSea and arguably the world’s most famous one – Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) – recently surpassed $1 billion in sales on the leading marketplace.
Specifically, the collection has generated an all-time trading volume of around 300,000 ETH, which at current price levels equals $1.13 billion.
BAYC’s significant success was fueled by many celebrities who spent thousands of dollars to acquire non-fungible tokens. In August, the NBA star Steph Curry purchased an ape with “zombie eyes” for $180,000.
A few days ago, the hip hop legend – Eminem – also joined the trend by paying more than $460,000 for Bored Ape #9055.
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