NFT-focused companies have continued to attract investments from notable investors since last year, with OpenSea being the latest beneficiary to cash in on the rush by investors to acquire stakes in space.
OpenSea Valued at $13.3 Billion
The popular NFT marketplace announced Tuesday that it recently raised $300 million in a Series C funding round that was spearheaded by Paradigm and Coatue Management.
According to the announcement, the round, which saw the company’s valuation spike to $13.3 billion in just four years after it was launched, was joined by both existing and new investors.
Notably, the new fund will be dedicated to increasing OpenSea’s more than 90 employees globally, which will contribute to improving customers’ service and trust.
In order to encourage the adoption of blockchain technology, a portion of the fund will also be invested in new product development as well as various Web3 technologies and developers.
Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, said:
“We saw the NFT ecosystem explode last year, with OpenSea’s transaction volume increasing over 600x in 2021. But we’re just getting started – and we need to scale our team quickly!”
The NFT industry has recorded lots of success over the years, attracting notable investors from different sectors as they realize the potential of the crypto niche.
With several traders struggling to acquire various digital collectibles, billions of dollars have so far been traded across various NFT marketplaces, thus attracting more investments in the sector.
Data compiled by PitchBook, a firm that tracks private investments, suggests that more than $3 billion worth of private investment flowed into NFT companies in 2021 alone.
OpenSea Dominating NFT Space
OpenSea was established in 2017 as a platform that enables people to buy and sell various digital collectibles referred to as non-fungible tokens or NFTs. The platform has gradually become the home for many NFT traders.
The marketplace has recorded significant sales volume since its inception, including the one that saw a buyer mistakenly transfer $1 million in ETH to a seller’s wallet address instead of placing a bid on the platform.
