Dapper Labs Announces $250M in Funding from Coatue, a16z, GV, BOND, GIC and More
Latest investment will be used to supercharge the Top Shot fan experience while continuing to bring transformative sports, entertainment and music blockchain based experiences to consumers
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dapper Labs, Inc., the company behind NBA Top Shot and the Flow blockchain, today announced US$250M in new funding. Led by Coatue, the new round brings together existing investors a16z, GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Version One Ventures with new investors including BOND and GIC, who believe in the long-term potential of Dapper Labs' vision, its marquee titles including NBA Top Shot, which is one of the world's fastest growing marketplaces, as well as the consumer-facing Flow blockchain.
"Coatue has been investing in technology trends for over 20 years and web 3.0 is one of the most exciting trends we've seen," said Dan Rose, Chairman, Coatue Ventures. "We think Dapper Labs is a leader in the space at the infrastructure level with Flow blockchain and in the application layer with NBA TopShot. We continue to be impressed by Roham's strong leadership and vision and we could not be more proud to partner with him and the entire team at Dapper."
"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. We are excited to be a part of this journey – and its next iterations – with Roham and team."
This latest round follows a year of exponential growth for Dapper Labs. While still in open Beta, its flagship NBA Top Shot grew by 30x in 2021, with more than US$780M in collectibles bought and sold, more than 1.1M registered accounts of which over 48% own at least one moment, and over 13 million transactions.
"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. "We're excited to partner with our incredible investors to scale NBA Top Shot and launch our upcoming titles as well as unlock the potential of the open ecosystem building on Flow."
With the launch of industry-leading features designed to easily onboard consumers and provide a world-class experience with blockchain technology, Flow has also emerged as a go-to destination for over 3,000 developers, artists, creators and brands looking to build out their own blockchain based experiences and communities, in an environmentally sustainable way. Most recently, Google Cloud was unveiled as Flow's cloud provider, and came on board to drive the next wave of mainstream NFT adoption on Flow. In addition to supporting soon to hit experiences from UFC, Genies, Warner Music Group and more, Flow will be the home of fan and league driven experiences from Dapper Labs later this year and early next, including LaLiga announced today.
Dapper Labs will use the new capital to continue to scale and support major additional brand-driven sports, entertainment and music based products coming online and being developed on the Flow blockchain.
For more information on Dapper Labs, and its latest applications, please visit: www.dapperlabs.com
About Dapper Labs
Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot and the original developers behind the Flow blockchain, uses blockchain technology to bring NFTs and new forms of digital engagement to fans around the world. Since it was founded in 2018, Dapper Labs has given consumer enthusiasts a real stake in the game by bringing them closer to the brands they love, enabling engaged and exciting communities for them to contribute to, and powering new pathways for them to become creators themselves. Dapper Labs' current studio partners include the NBA, NBPA, WNBA, WNBPA, LaLiga, Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, Genies and UFC. Notable investors in Dapper Labs include Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, Union Square Ventures, Venrock, BOND, GIC, Google Ventures (GV), Samsung, and the founders of Dreamworks, Reddit, Coinbase, Zynga, and AngelList, among others. For more about Dapper Labs' products and mission, visit dapperlabs.com.
Rachel Rogers, rachel.rogers@dapperlabs.com
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