Dapper Labs, the Canadian-founded company behind CryptoKitties, has raised $19 million CAD ($15 million USD) in financing led by Venrock, with participation from GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Samsung NEXT.
Dapper Labs was spun out of parent company Axiom Zen. The new funding includes participation from Endeavor entertainment company; eSports company aXiomatic; and the Andreessen Horowitz Cultural Leadership Fund. Additional investors in this round include CoinFund, Animoca Brands, lead singer of Muse Matt Bellamy, June Fund, HOF Capital, John Pfeffer, and GBIC. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, SV Angel, Digital Currency Group, William Mougayar, Hex Capital, and Rising Tide Fund also participated in the financing.
“The evolution of true digital ownership and the interoperability of smart contracts creates new ways for consumers, creators, and platform providers to interact completely peer-to-peer, with no middlemen,” said Roham Gharegozlou, CEO at Dapper Labs. “Our mission at Dapper Labs is to use games and entertainment to bring the values of decentralization to billions of consumers worldwide. This round of financing was about getting the right partners around the table to bring compelling content to the blockchain – and make sure usability and infrastructure allow for adoption by mainstream consumers.”
The company also disclosed several additional investors from its previous financing round, including Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo; Steve Huffman, the founder and CEO of Reddit; and Green Bay Ventures.
“The team at Dapper Labs impressed us with their vision. More than any other company in this industry, they truly understand and aim to reach the mainstream consumer,” said David Pakman, a General Partner at Venrock and now on the Dapper Labs’ Board of Directors. “The blockchain will usher in an industry of scarce digital assets and will enable new types of self-expression. Combined with the transition from centralized to peer-to-peer commerce, this will unlock trillions of dollars in value for consumers.”