Peer-to-peer NFT marketplace OpenSea has attracted $100 M in a Series B funding round headed by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Related: NFT Sales Surge to $2.5 B in 2021 First Half
We're expanding! Announcing our $100M raise and $1.5B valuation, led by @a16z
— OpenSea (@opensea) July 20, 2021
💫 OpenSea is also now cross-blockchain. NFTs that you create can now be gas-free, allowing creators to fully earn their way into crypto for the first time
Details ↯ https://t.co/EeQfyZTxUA 1/2
Among the fund backers were celebrity actor Ashton Kutcher, singer Shawn Mendes, professional basketball player Kevin Durant. Investment Management Coatue, Creative Artists Agency, and Shopify CEO Tobie Lutke.
OpenSea's valuation surged above $1 B after the latest round. In March 2021 the firm attracted $23 M in Series A.
The allocated capital will be used to build OpenSea’s new cross-blockchain support, level up functions as new chains are supported, and expand the team.Initially, OpenSea only supported the minting and trading of Ethereum-based NFTs. Today it added support for Polygon and Klaytn blockchains. The company plans to enable Flow and Tezos afterwards.