OpenSea, a US-based non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace operator backed by corporates Coinbase, Animoca Brands and Gumi, secured $100m in series B funding on Tuesday at a valuation of $1.5bn.
The round was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and also featured investment manager Coatue and private investors Michael Ovitz, Kevin Hartz, Dylan Field, Kevin Durant, Ashton Kutcher and Tobi Lutke.
Founded in 2017, OpenSea operates a marketplace for crypto collectibles and NFTs: crypto assets that record ownership of digital items certifying them to be unique and not interchangeable.
The company had previously secured $23m from Andreessen Horowitz, Standard Crypto, Flamingo DAO, 1Confirmation, Pascal Capital and Blockchain Capital in March this year.
Gumi Cryptos, a subsidiary of mobile game producer Gumi, invested in the company through a $2.1m round in late 2019 alongside mobile game developer Animoca Brands, Stanford StartX, 1Confirmation, Blockchain Capital, YC Combinator, Dylan Field and David Pazdan.
OpenSea had collected $2m in 2018 from Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of digital currency exchange Coinbase, and media and consumer-focused investment company Chernin Group, as well as Founders Fund, 1Confirmation, Foundation Capital, Blockchain Capital, Stable Fund and Blockstack.