Friday Fundings: NFT Marketplace Magic Eden Snags More Funding in Growth Bid

Nine Months of NFTs

NFTs can be hard to wrap your head around. These nonfungible tokens are traded on blockchains, similar to cryptocurrencies. In recent months, NFT sales declined as rising interest rates put pressure on various growth assets, particularly those in the tech sector.

Bucking that trend, NFT marketplace Magic Eden just announced a $130 million Series B fundraising round. This brings its total valuation to $1.6 billion, just nine months after it launched. Magic Eden previously closed on a $27 million Series A in March.

The Current Plan

Magic Eden’s marketplaces utilize the Solana blockchain. Its primary NFT marketplace is called Launchpad and features over 250 projects. A secondary platform contains more than 7,000 collections, representing over 90% of all Solana-based NFT volume. More than 50,000 Solana-based NFTs are minted each day, with an average of roughly 20 million unique sessions per month.

Company executives say the funds will be used to expand its primary and secondary marketplaces. They note other NFT platforms might have had a head start in the Solana space, but argue Magic Eden’s success lies in focusing on what the community wants. The company does plan to explore multichain opportunities beyond the Solana blockchain.

What the Future Holds

There’s no denying the tremendous growth NFTs in general have experienced over the past year. That said, since peaking in January, both buying and selling has slowed. Other data points in a more bullish direction. Dune Analytics research shows transaction volume and monthly active users have been increasing since late March.

That same data set shows Magic Eden is growing. As of June 1, it accounted for nearly 97% of daily Solana NFT sales. Dating back to the same time period in 2021, that’s up almost 10%. Magic Eden’s executives describe the most recent cycle as fast paced and intense, arguing the sector’s overall potential is even more exciting.

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