NFT startup Candy Digital raises $100 million in Series A round
Sports-focused collectible NFT firm Candy Digital raised $100 million in a Series A financing round, bringing its value to $1.5 billion.
Insight Partners and Softbank Vision Fund 2 co-led the funding round, according to an Oct. 21 press release. Additional participants include former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, Connect Ventures, Will Ventures, Gaingels, Com2Us, and Athletes Syndicate through a partnership with Chaos Ventures.
Candy Digital has sold close to 42,000 individual NFTs so far, a spokesperson told The Block.
The company, which launched on June 1, says it is developing an ecosystem for fans to buy, share and trade officially licensed Major League Baseball (MLB) NFTs. It is using the Ethereum sidechain Palm for its NFT marketplace. Candy will soon release three new offerings tied to the MLB playoffs and World Series.
Candy also counts the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), Race Team Alliance (RTA), and college athletes among its partners.
Candy Digital says it will use the funding to “integrate new sports relationships” in addition to further growing its creative content studio, user experience teams, and NFT marketplace. It will also ramp up areas related to recruiting, engineering, and customer success.
Candy’s founding board members are Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, and notable entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk.
