NFT project Doodles raises $54 million from Reddit co-founder

The Doodles project, behind the eponymous NFT collection, закрыл its first funding round for $54 million, valuing the company at $704 million.

It was led by Seven Seven Six, the venture firm co-founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Others participating included Acrew Capital, FTX Ventures and 10T Holdings.

According to the statement, the funds will help the company “scale its growth strategy and monetise intellectual property.”

“We are using the capital to rapidly assemble a world-class team of engineers, creatives, marketers and managers. Also to fund product development, technology acquisitions, media and collector experiences,” the company said on Twitter.

We are using the funding to rapidly acquire a world-class team of engineers, creatives, marketers and business executives. As well as to fund product development, acquisitions, proprietary technology, media, and collector experiences. pic.twitter.com/wRofCZGsbE

— doodles (@doodles) September 13, 2022

“With this capital we will continue developing a new generation of engaging experiences and content using blockchain technology, including NFTs,” said the company’s CEO Julian Olgin.

Doodles was founded in 2021 by former Dapper Labs employees Evan Kirst and Jordan Castro, together with digital artist Scott Martin (Burnt Toast).

The NFT collection is minted on Ethereum and comprises 10,000 tokens. On the OpenSea marketplace it ranks ninth by lifetime sales volume — 149,000 ETH (~$266.8 million).

In the past 24 hours, Doodles’ sales volume surged by 1,025% to 883 ETH, placing the collection among the leaders on the trading platform for the day.

In early September, the NFT startup Dust Labs, tied to the y00ts and DeGods collections on Solana, attracted strategic investments of $7 million.

Analysts noted that despite the broader market cooling, the number of non-fungible tokens issued on this blockchain surged and exceeded 300,000 .

Read ForkLog’s bitcoin news in our Telegram — crypto news, prices and analysis.