NBA Top Shot creator Dapper Labs announced that it had scored $305 million in private funding in order to “scale up its virtual NBA trading card site” and expand its business. A part of the funding is coming from several National Basketball Association stars, including basketball legends Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant.
The new funding round increases the firm’s current valuation to $2.6 billion. NBA Top Shot allows basketball fans to purchase and thus own a digital copy of a video highlight. Fans can choose between five different tiers of highlights, including Common, Rare, Legendary, Platinum Ultimate, and Genesis Ultimate.
The card-like crypto platform has recorded $500 million in sales since its launch. For example, a LeBron James Top Shot sold for a noteworthy $208,000 last month. Moreover, the platform has registered more than 800,000 accounts since it began its beta testing in October 2020.
A significant part of the recent funding came from New York-based private equity firm Coatue Management, with the list of investors including other important names such as Andre Iguodala, JaVale McGee, Klay Thompson, Kyle Lowry, Will Smith, Shawn Mendes, and 2 Chainz.
Dapper Labs intends to expand its NFTs to a wider array of businesses and thus provide more experiences, hence its partnerships with Warner Music Group, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and Ubisoft. Regarding these plans, Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou stated the following:
“We want to bring the same magic to other sports leagues as well as help other entertainment studios and independent creators find their own approaches in exploring open platforms.”