Top Shot creator unveils $725M fund to support Flow ecosystem

Published at: May 11, 2022

The Flow ecosystem is set to get a boost in support from a new $725 million fund that will be used to invest in the growth of the nonfungible token network.

Flow (FLOW) is a layer-1 blockchain developed by Dapper Labs and purpose-made for nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Dapper Labs also created the popular NBA Top Shot NFT collection. Flow utilizes an eco-friendly proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm.

The new fund was backed by 17 firms that have experience backing other Web3 companies, including large investment firms a16z, Spartan Group and CoinFund. The funds will be used to attract developers to bring their work onto Flow instead of competitor Ethereum, which still dominates NFTs despite high gas fees. Within the Flow ecosystem itself, the funds will provide support for gaming, infrastructure, decentralized finance (DeFi), content and creators.

Today, we're announcing a $725 Million ecosystem fund to accelerate growth across the entire Flow ecosystem This is the largest joint fund made for ANY blockchain, available for both existing and future developers #onFlow Meet the Flow Ecosystem Fund: https://t.co/8Y8qaLvccz pic.twitter.com/VBKbnZdQEQ

— Flow (@flow_blockchain) May 10, 2022

Projects awarded grants through the ecosystem fund will be supported by FLOW tokens investments and what the fund’s webpage calls “in-kind support.”

Flow CEO Roham Gharegozlou clarified that the majority of the fund will be used as investment capital rather than grants for developers in a Tuesday tweet.

Flow is currently the third-largest blockchain by NFT sales volume behind Ethereum and Solana. Not including May, throughout 2022, Flow has averaged $50.3 million in monthly NFT sales, according to CryptoSlam, an NFT market tracker.

Host of the NFT-focused podcast The First Mint LG Doucet tweeted on Tuesday a list of five new products he believes should be supported through the funds. They include a whitelisted app to help users get whitelisted for a mint, a mobile app, video education, wallet integration on Shopify, non-cartoon, animal and athlete art. He added that Flow needs “actual INNOVATION, not just roadmaps that copy ETH projects.”

$725M coming to $Flow ecosystemProducts we need built:- WL App like @PREMINT_NFT- Mobile App for @emerald_dao- Video Education on @Flowverse_- Wallet Integration on @Shopify- Non cartoon animal/athlete PFPsAnd actual INNOVATION, not just roadmaps that copy ETH projects

— LG DOUCET (@LgDoucet) May 10, 2022

Although Flow is operated by Dapper Labs, which has produced some of the biggest NFT products over the last two years, its NFT sales still lag behind larger layer-1 ecosystems. This may be due to weaker network effects and a smaller ecosystem of decentralized applications (DApps) running on it. The new ecosystem fund aims to tackle that shortcoming.

Other Dapper Labs NFT products include CryptoKitties, one of the first NFT games, UFC Strike, NFL All Day and Cheeze Wizards.

Related: Otherside NFTs fall below mint price while cheaper ETH sees sales volume boost

FLOW has a market cap of $1.4 billion and is up 20% over the past 24 hours to $4.01, according to CoinGecko data.

Tags
Nft
Funding
Investments
Dapps
Related Posts
Galaxy Interactive raises another $325M fund aimed at metaverse and next-gen games
Galaxy Interactive, a venture capital firm focused on next-generation interactive technology, has announced it has raised $325 million for its second fund from 70 different investors. The fund is focused on virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and blockchain-based games. In a Tuesday announcement, Galaxy Digital, the majority owner of Galaxy Interactive, stated that $150 million from the fund has already been allocated to new portfolio companies, including Republic, 1047 Games, Elodie, Roar, Art Blocks and Masterworks, with other additional investments to be announced in coming months. Established in 2018 by general partners Sam Englebardt and Richard Kim, the company …
Technology / Oct. 20, 2021
Avalanche (AVAX) just hit a new ATH, but what’s really behind the price surge?
On Thursday Avalanche’s (AVAX) price hit a new all-time high at $68.89, and over the last few months, the project has risen to challenge the Ethereum network’s dominance among smart contract platforms. According to the project’s website, the layer-one protocol is capable of surpassing 4,500 transactions per second (TPS) with a time to finality of less than 2 seconds. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting a low of $32.10 on Sept. 7, the price of AVAX has rallied 111% to establish a new all-time high on S as its 24-hour trading volume spiked 200% to …
Nft / Sept. 17, 2021
The Sandbox raises $93M to expand its NFT metaverse
The metaverse continues to be the next attraction point of crypto for investors, with The Sandbox, an Animoca Brands subsidiary and nonfungible token (NFT) metaverse platform, raising fresh capital in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Marking SoftBank Vision Fund 2’s first investment into the crypto assets, The Sandbox’s Series B round saw $93 million raised with the participation of Animoca Brands, True Global Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, SCB 10X, Polygon Studios and Samsung Next, among others. According to the announcement, The Sandbox aims to speed up the growth of its open metaverse with games, live performances and …
Nft / Nov. 2, 2021
NFT creator Yuga Labs raises $450M, bringing company valuation to $4B
Yuga Labs, the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and new owners of the CryptoPunks and Meebits brands, announced it is now valued at $4 billion after its latest $450 million seed funding round. VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z, led the company's first institutional investment, marking one of the largest seed rounds for any nonfungible token (NFT) collection to date. Other investors included Animoca Brands, FTX and MoonPay, as well as LionTree, Sound Ventures and Thrive Capital. The company plans to use the funds to scale its team, attract more creative, engineering and operations talent, as well as …
Nft / March 22, 2022
DEX dev Uniswap Labs looks for new funding at unicorn valuation: Report
Major decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap is in the early stages of raising significant funds to further expand its decentralized finance (DeFi) offerings, according to a new report. Uniswap Labs, a DeFi startup contributing to the Uniswap Protocol, is engaging with a number of investors to raise an equity round of $100 million to $200 million, TechCrunch reported on Sept. 30. The startup is working with investors like Polychain and one of Singapore’s sovereign funds as part of the upcoming funding round, the report notes, citing two anonymous people familiar with the matter. According to the report, Uniswap would be valued …
Decentralization / Sept. 30, 2022