NFT marketplace MakersPlace secures $30 million in Series A round

Quick Take

  • NFT marketplace MakersPlace has raised $30 million in a Series A round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Pantera Capital. 
  • MakersPlace made headlines earlier this year after sourcing and minting digital artist Beeple’s collection of works, which sold for over $69 million at Christie’s.

NFT marketplace MakersPlace has raised $30 million in a Series A fundraising round, the company announced Wednesday. 

The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Pantera Capital with participants including Uncork Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Sony Music Entertainment. 

MakersPlace plans to use the cash influx to grow its team and continue to expand its marketplace.  

“With this Series A we will further our commitment to uniting the best digital artists with the most passionate collectors and continue to bring this new medium for creativity and collecting to a mainstream audience,” said MakersPlace co-founder and CEO Dannie Chu.  

MakersPlace was founded in 2018 by former Pinterest employees Dannie Chu and Yash Nelapati, as well as e-commerce executive Ryoma Ito. According to the company, MakersPlace has raised $100 million in sales over the past year, with thousands of creators and collectors on the platform. 

A growing demand for NFTs

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The San Francisco-based company made headlines earlier this year after it sourced, minted and brought to market the digital artist Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days, which sold for over $69 million at Christie’s auction house. The collage of digital images was sold as an NFT. 

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are digital collectibles on the blockchain that can represent different files like audio or images. Beeple’s collection is the most expensive NFT sold to date, as well as one of the most expensive works by a living digital artist. 

Although NFT trading activity declined slightly after peaking in March, it has picked back up in recent weeks. In fact, weekly NFT trade volume surpassed $300 million earlier this week. Amidst this flurry of activity, NFT marketplaces have continued to grow in popularity, with platforms like OpenSea and Rarible securing funding recently.

NFT marketplaces play a crucial role in the creation and sale of these digital collectibles because they allow creators to store, display and trade their work. Typically, creators need to get verified to put their work up for sale in order to receive and accept bids. 


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About Author

Saniya More (pronounced: Saan-ya Mo-ray) is a quadrilingual journalist at The Block. She got her master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and did her undergraduate degree at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University. Her work has appeared in CBS News, Bangkok Post, Thai Enquirer, Globalists, Byline Times and other publications. When she’s not chasing a story, you will most likely find her biking, tweeting, taking photos or creating Spotify playlists for every occasion.