Following a $305 million funding in March, today Dapper Labs announced another $250 million raise which, like the previous round, was led by Coatue. Existing investors include a16z, GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Version One Ventures. New investors are the Singapore government fund GIC, and Mary Meeker’s BOND. Rumors in March put the latest valuation at $7.5 billion.
Dapper Labs is known for its successful NBA Top Shot non-fungible token (NFT) app, which arguably was a major reason for NFTs going mainstream this year. So far, $780 million in collectibles have been bought and sold. There are more than 1.1M registered accounts of with more than 48% of users owning a video moment. In the early days of the excitement around the game, we explored the business model.
Top Shot wasn’t Dapper’s first application. The company is also known for CryptoKitties, which was so popular that it slowed down Ethereum back in 2017. As a result of that experience, Dapper created the Flow blockchain, which targets the NFT, games and creative sectors. The platform will host big names such as the UFC and Warner Music. But it’s also been chosen by startups such as the Genie Avatar App, Fantastec sports collectibles, and Animoca Brands, the NFT and gaming company. Today it also announced a deal with Spain’s La Liga football league to offer moments, which sounds similar to Top Shot.
“Blockchain and crypto are foundational underpinnings for the next wave of technology evolution,” said Mary Meeker, General Partner of BOND. “With NBA Top Shot and a compelling pipeline of products to come, Dapper Labs is leading the way with the innovative Flow platform.
“Dapper Labs is growing quickly but we’re just scratching the surface of what this new technology can do for people,” said Roham Gharegozlou, CEO, Dapper Labs.
Meanwhile, La Liga also has a deal with the fantasy football NFT game Sorare. Yesterday the French startup raised $680 million at a $4.3 billion valuation led by Softbank.
