OpenSea has raised US$300 million in its latest funding round, bringing the largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace to a US$13.3 billion post-money valuation and adding to the project’s massive growth in sales and user participation.
Paradigm and Coatue led the funding round with participation from new and existing investors.
We are excited to work with these incredible partners, thinkers and builders who collectively bring a depth of experience in Web3, NFTs, and best-in-class consumer experiences.
OpenSea blog post
Via the blog post, the project also announced its new VP of Product, Shiva Rajaraman, whose CV includes stints at Meta, YouTube, Spotify and WeWork. OpenSea’s previous head of product was Nate Chastain, who left the company after it was discovered he had used inside information to buy NFTs before they appeared on the marketplace and sold them at a profit.
OpenSea Sees Massive Growth in 2021
The US$13.3 billion valuation figure OpenSea is reporting demonstrates the growing appeal of NFTs, which can be used as blockchain-based deeds of ownership to any form of digital item. As a testament to their growth, in July 2020 OpenSea was valued at US$1.5 billion after a Series B funding round.
The marketplace has not been slowing down, posting its third-best trading day ever on January 2 with US$243 million in Ethereum NFT volume. OpenSea has recorded US$14.68 billion in sales across 1,387,357 traders worldwide, as well as a major increase in user activity.
Participants Want OpenSea to be User-Owned
Earlier this month, some of the NFT community questioned OpenSea’s ability to intervene in the workings of the platform when it froze 16 NFTs stolen from a collector.
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