The early success of the new blockchain app “NBA Top Shot” has brought new funds to Dapper Labs from venture capital firms and NBA player investors Andre Iguodala (Miami Heat), Spencer Dinwiddie and Garrett Temple (Brooklyn Nets), JaVale McGee (Los Angeles Lakers), and Aaron Gordon (Orlando Magic). The players join a round of new investors who are following on the early support of top vc firms: Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, Venrock, Google Ventures, Samsung, the founders of Dreamworks, Reddit, Coinbase, Zynga, and AngelList, among others.
Now with $12 million in new funding Dapper Labs will scale their Flow blockchain, buoyed by results of its’ beta test that revealed the app’s first 500 players have spent thousands of hours opening packs, trading moments, and completing collections together.
Mainstream basketball fans are the target of “NBA Top Shot” that was designed in partnership with the NBA and NBPA, giving their fandom a place to express their basketball knowledge and enthusiasm. While baby boomers thrived on trading cards in their youth, the app is intended to create a similar experience digitally. Dapper is welcoming participants to the beta with sign ups at nbatopshot.com and then a visit to discord.gg/nbatopshot to request early access.
“Crypto enables entirely new possibilities for people to create and exchange value on the internet.” said Roham Gharegozlou, founder and CEO of Dapper Labs. “Flow is a new and easy to use blockchain that lowers barriers to entry and lets anyone join this new digital economy.”
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Once a fan enters Top Shot they experience the fun of discovering great plays, creating and showing off collections, as well as trading trade their assets with other fans during challenges.
“Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize consumer ownership on the internet,” said Andre Iguodala, three time NBA champion, tech entrepreneur, and current Miami Heat forward. “Projects like Dapper Labs’ Flow is already driving consumer adoption, with NBA Top Shot proving the experience is not only engaging, but smooth and fan friendly.”
Flow brings a number of key elements important for mass market adoption that includes payment rails for credit cards and cryptocurrency for consumers for ease of use. Its stability and scalability has brought in major partnerships with Warner Music Group, Dr. Seuss Entertainment, and UFC that are pursuing new gaming and entertainment experiences.
Investors joining the current round include: Coinbase Ventures, Distributed Global, Valor Capital Group, A.Capital, BlockTower Capital, Blockchange Ventures, among others.
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