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OpenSea valued at $13.3 billion in NFT rush

The NFT marketplace's $300 million funding round shows the increased interest in non-fungible tokens.

CryptoPunk 7804

CryptoPunks are one of the hottest forms of NFTs.

Photo: Larva Labs / Peruggia / who really owns digital art?

NFT marketplace OpenSea has raised $300 million at a $13.3 billion valuation in a Series C funding round that shows the rapid growth of the market for non-fungible tokens.

The startup, founded in 2017, has capitalized on the massive interest in crypto in general and in particular NFTs, which have become popular as digital art, as well as a variety of other uses such as online games, collectibles and even music. The company's transaction volume grew more than 600 times in 2021, the company said.

The round was led by crypto-focused venture firm Paradigm and hedge fund Coatue.

Also participating in the funding round was a new venture fund headed by Kathryn Haun, a former key figure in Andreessen Horowitz's crypto efforts. The firm said the fund currently has a placeholder name of KRH.

Correction: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Andreessen Horowitz. This correction was made Jan. 5, 2022.

 Tomio Geron

Tomio Geron ( @tomiogeron) is a San Francisco-based reporter covering fintech. He was previously a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal, covering venture capital and startups. He was also as a staff writer at Forbes covering social media and venture capital, and edited the Midas List of top tech investors. He can be reached at tgeron@protocol.com or tgeron@protonmail.com.

nfts nonfungible tokens cryptocurrency
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