TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 14: NBA hall of famer and Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan walks off the court during the NBA All-Star Game 2016 at the Air Canada Centre on February 14, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo: Getty)
Dapper Labs, the startup company behind the NFT trading-card platform NBA Top Shot, has received $305 million in private funding to expand its business. The money comes from donations from current and present NBA stars.
The latest donations are from Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson. Other recent donators are Ashton Kutcher‘s Sound Ventures, Will Smith‘s Dreamers VC, rapper 2 Chainz, and The Chernin Group. The recent funding has risen Dapper Lab’s value to $2.6 billion.
NBA Top Shot has seen a boom in popularity and funding from private investors.
“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,” Dapper Labs said in a statement.
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NBA Top Shot was developed in partnership with the NBA. It provides users with an online forum where they are able to own and trade virtual basketball cards but in the form of video clips and highlights called “highlights.” The idea was unique because it is unheard of trading cards that are video clips, it has usually been player cards that are traded.
The uniqueness of Top Shot has attracted a large player base. Less than five months into beta testing, the platform now has more than 800,000 registered users. As of March 17, more than $370 million had exchanged hands between users on Top Shot. The amount does not include the amount spent by players on packs.
Dapper Labs is hoping that the recent funding it will allow the company to expand to other sports leagues.
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