OpenSea raises $300M, aims to improve customer experience

It is becoming increasingly evident that the non-fungible token (NFT) market is the next frontier in the fields of collectibles, gaming, and the metaverse. For the purpose of accelerating this vision, OpenSea announced on Tuesday that it has raised $300 million in Series C funding led by Coatue and Paradigm.

OpenSea is a Wyvern Protocol-based digital market that consists solely of custom-built Ethereum smart contracts that have been designed specifically for buying and selling digital items. The marketplace first opened its doors in 2018.

The firm’s market capitalization has already topped $13.3 billion as a result of the latest investment. The company claimed that, in addition to Paradigm and Coatue, multiple new and existing investors took part in the funding round.

OpenSea’s strategic plans

OpenSea has allocated the fund in a strategic manner for:

1. Improvements in customer and community experience 
2. Accelerating product development
3. Expanding the company’s trust, safety, and reliability
4. Meaningfully investing in wider Web3 and NFT community
5. Growing OpenSea team

In the year 2021, NFTs played a significant role in the mainstream buzz and adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Many big brands have entered the NFT craze, including Adidas, which launched its own NFT collection recently which was placed at 2nd position on the OpenSea platform within a week. Instagram also hinted at its plans on integrating NFTs on the social media platform.

The huge success of NFTs and OpenSea in 2021

According to firm data, the market achieved almost $14 billion in sales throughout the year, with digital art collections and digital collectibles accounting for 91% of all transactions. Since the beginning of 2022, OpenSea has already produced more than $700 million in transaction volume.

The company also announced the appointment of Shiva Rajaraman as its new Vice President of Product as part of its efforts to introduce NFTs to a wider consumer audience. Shiva comes to OpenSea from Meta, where he served as VP of Commerce. Prior to joining Meta, he worked at big companies such as YouTube, Spotify, and WeWork.

As TheCoinRise reported, OpenSea, along with Cryptopunks and Axie Infinity, made more than $10 billion in sales last year till the third quarter.