NFT Company Candy Digital Valued at Over $1 Billion With $100 Million Funding Round

Private equity firms Insight Partners and Softbank Vision Fund 2 co-led the Series A funding round.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 22 October 2021 11:28 IST

NFT Company Candy Digital Valued at Over $1 Billion With $100 Million Funding Round

Photo Credit: Reuters

The NFT space is gaining popularity among the likes of global celebrities

Highlights

NFT venture Candy Digital reaches Unicorn valuation
The money will be used to diversify Candy Digital’s sports NFT offerings
The company is now valued at over $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 11,219 crore)

US-based non-fungible token (NFT) company called Candy Digital has secured $100 million (roughly Rs. 747 crore) in a Series A funding round. The NFT start-up launched in June 2020 is affiliated by Major League Baseball (MLB) is parented by sports merchandise firm, Fanatics. With this fresh investment, the total valuation of Candy Digital has touched $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 11,219 crore). While details about the amount of investment poured by individual investors remain undisclosed, private equity firms Insight Partners and Softbank Vision Fund 2 co-led the round.

Candy Digital allows MLB fans to buy and trade officially licensed NFTs – which are virtual collectibles that can be purchased and traded in the crypto space. The NFTs available on the platform include artwork, video moments from the matches, as well as iconic speeches from the MLB history that can be purchased using crypto coins among other precious collectibles.

With this fresh round of funding, the NFT platform aims to expand the product offerings across all sports marketplaces around the world. Well, the timing of incorporating this plan seems suitable given the rising popularity of the NFT space in several parts of the world.

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Connect Ventures, Will Ventures, Gaingels, Com2Us, and Athators Syndicate emerged as other companies to invest in Candy Digital during this Series A funding round.

From rapper Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart to Bollywood megastars Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan – several celebrities around the world are venturing into the NFT space.

Designers and fashion brands including Dolce & Gabbana as well as Manish Malhotra have forayed into the NFT space to present their original works as valuable NFT collectibles.

NFT sales volume surged to $10.7 billion (roughly Rs. 79,820 crore) in the third quarter of 2021, up more than eightfold from the previous quarter, according to data from market tracker DappRadar.

Surging sales and hefty prices on NFTs – items that do not physically exist – have baffled many but the multifold growth shows no depreciation whatsoever.

On the biggest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, sales volumes hit $3.4 billion (roughly Rs. 25,320 crore) in August. Activity remained strong even in September when global stock markets faltered.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: NFT, non-fungible tokens, cryptocurrency, Candy Digital

Radhika Parashar

Email Radhika

Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More