Dapper Labs closed a $ 12 million funding round led by National Basketball Association (NBA) stars Spencer Dinwiddie, Andre Iguodala, JaVale McGee, Aaron Gordon, and Garrett Temple, according to a press release.
The funds will be used to improve existing games and develop further blockchain games including the eventual launch of NBA Top Shot after the private beta, said Dapper Labs founder and CEO Roham Gharegozlou.
Sport and blockchain
"Sport is our most important vertical goal now," said Gharegozlou. NBA Top Shot runs on the developer's custom Flow blockchain. The company moved away from the Ethereum blockchain due to scalability issues following the 2017 CryptoKitties debacle.
The round was also joined by new venture capital firms such as Coinbase Ventures and pre-existing partners Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Cultural Leadership Fund - the first derivative investment - among others. Dapper Labs has raised $ 51 million in seven rounds to date, according to Crunchbase.
Top Shot of the NBA
As first reported by The Block, NBA Top Shot grossed $ 1,2 million in revenue three months after launching the beta. The app allows basketball fans to purchase officially licensed digital tokens of NBA player lists as in a trading card game.
“Flow can create the vehicle for consumers to enter the space through products like NBA Top Shot where they have fun, but at the same time create a new self-sovereignty,” Dinwiddie said in a statement.
NBA players like Dinwiddie and McGee are unfamiliar with cryptocurrency investing. Dinwiddie pioneered the tokenization of his NBA contract on the Ethereum blockchain while McGee was one of the first bitcoin investors, according to Gharegozlou.
Iguodala has also found some success as a fintech investor; recognized Zoom's potential long before it became a staple for pandemics. "Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize consumer ownership on the Internet," Iguodala said in a statement.
"Projects like Dapper Labs' Flow are already driving consumer adoption, with NBA Top Shot proving that the experience is not just engaging, but fluid and fan-friendly."
Dapper Labs' head of partnerships and marketing, Caty Tedman, said the NBA will collaborate in promoting Top Shop by actively participating in the discussion on tokens targeting specific regions and languages.
Tedman expressed hope to launch "Japanese-language tokens" in the future, adding that the NBA has connected Dapper with their Asia-Pacific and European groups. In short, even the stars of the NBA are starting to take an interest in the cryptocurrency market. And you already know how buy Bitcoins? Check out our getting started guide to find out more!
