The startup plans to add NFTs to its portfolio and invest in metaverse companies
Miami and New York-based NFT venture studio Metaversal has announced a $50 million Series A fundraise. Blockchain investment firm CoinFund and asset manager Foxhaven led the round, which was reportedly oversubscribed. A diverse range of investors also participated in the round, including crypto VC Collab+Currency, blockchain gaming company Drapper, and $1.5 trillion asset manager Franklin Templeton.
Metaversal says that it will use these funds to purchase new NFTs and invest in venture studio projects. The company has gained notoriety for being the first institutional investor in ConstitutionDAO, a group of thousands of investors who banded together to attempt to purchase a copy of the US Constitution. It was also the first institutional investor in Nouns, a DAO funded through the sale of regularly-generated, unique NFTs.
So far, Metaversal has acquired more than 750 NFTs. At a time when some NFT projects are surpassing $1B in value, investing in the asset on an institutional level is increasingly attractive. Equally, the company has invested in a handful of metaverse-focused startups, including NFT storefront builder Holaplex, crypto art news website NFT Now, and cannabis startup FAR Tech Ventures.
“Our team remains laser-focused on execution, and this important financing milestone will meaningfully expand Metaversal’s curation and investment capabilities in 2022,” Dan Schmerin, President and co-founder of Metaversal, said in a statement. “We are incredibly excited by the array of investment opportunities in front of us, as well as the breadth of collaborations now underway with the world’s most recognizable brands and creators.”
Schmerin, who started his career in public policy before moving into the art and investment world, launched Metaversal alongside CEO Yossi Hasson in 2021. Hasson is an entrepreneur and investor focused on the crypto, NFT, and blockchain space. Previously, he was the Managing Director of Techstars in Cape Town and New York.
CoinFund’s Miami-based founder and CEO, Jake Brukhman, underscored what he calls Metaverse’s “vibrant, platform-agnostic strategy.”
“Metaversal’s dynamic team and combined curation and investment model give them unique visibility into opportunities within this rapidly growing ecosystem,” commented Brukhman. “We are excited to help them shape a vibrant, platform-agnostic strategy.”
While Metaversal has invested in the Tezos ecosystem, which is the platform of choice for many digital art projects, the company says that it believes in a future in which many different chains are used for NFTs.
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