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🦄 Unicorner Startup of the Week: OpenSea
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The largest NFT marketplace
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From obscurity to pandemonium, it seems like everyone today is infatuated with NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. Because of the underlying blockchain technology, which also powers other trending commodities such as cryptocurrency, NFTs enable netizens to own a digital asset that is verifiably scarce and freely tradeable. The greatest benefactor from NFTs’ surge in excitement is OpenSea. OpenSea is a peer-to-peer marketplace for user-owned digital goods, which include collectibles, gaming items, domain names, digital art, and other assets backed by a blockchain.
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💰 Business Model
OpenSea takes a 2.5% commission on all successful sales on its marketplace.
📈 Traction and Fundraising
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From December 2020 to now, monthly transaction volume grew 797%, and according to OpenSea founder Devin Finzer, transaction volume has grown 100x since September 2020
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Took part in Y Combinator W18 batch
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Raised $23 million Series A led by a16z, and joined by a world-class panel of angel investors: Mark Cuban, Alexis Ohanian, Tim Ferriss, and Naval Ravikant
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👫 Founder(s)
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Devin Finzer, CEO: Previously Engineering Manager @ Credit Karma, Co-Founder of Claimdog (acquired by Credit Karma), Software Engineer @ Pinterest, CS @ Brown
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Alex Atallah, CTO: Previously CTO @ Whatsgoodly, Lead Frontend Engineer @ Zugata, Forward Deployed Engineer @ Palantir, CS @ Stanford
🔮 Our Analysis
OpenSea didn’t just cross the ominous chasm that separates fledgling success from hypergrowth; the team cannoned over it like Evel Knievel, stuck the landing, and rode away clean. Having the foresight and capability to produce a marketplace that scales seamlessly, OpenSea is poised to grow apace with the NFT market at large. Their simple UI is approachable and easily navigable. Their partnership roster is S-tier. And, most importantly, the team at OpenSea has spared no expense when it comes to equipping creators, artists, and developers alike with the tools they need to succeed. While OpenSea is bound to profit immensely due to sizable network effects, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. Criticism against NFTs has come from many people, including environmentalists, who have cited the enormous energy expenditure it takes to mint an NFT onto the blockchain. Some artists have decided to forgo their planned NFT release for exactly this reason. Various solutions are already being developed that will remedy this concern, so it likely won’t hamper the long-term viability of NFTs, and thus, OpenSea.
📚 Further Reading
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Made with 💜 by the Unicorner Team 🦄
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