The large raise comes during an otherwise downcast crypto climate.
Magic Eden, the leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace on Solana, has raised $130 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Electric Capital and Greylock.
The round, announced Tuesday, values the platform at $1.6 billion, putting it on par with the Series B of OpenSea, the leading Ethereum NFT marketplace that went on to command a $13 billion valuation in a Series C round announced earlier this year.
Magic Eden says it plans to use the funds to expand its primary and secondary marketplaces, as well as explore “multichain opportunities,” according to a press release.
“We know that NFTs are the best way to bring people onto the blockchain,” Jack Lu, CEO of Magic Eden, said in a statement. “NFTs are exciting, social and cultural experiences that bring connectivity to the world. We’ve made the conscious decision to support both our creators and users through this tremendous era of growth for both the company and the industry.”
Solana NFT volume
Magic Eden is the current kingpin of the Solana NFT community, handling more than 90% of the ecosystem’s volume and picking up steam in recent months.
The marketplace is now rivaling OpenSea in daily transactions and volume, sometimes surpassing it.
The Magic Eden raise comes in an otherwise pessimistic crypto climate, with prices for such underlying currencies of the NFT ecosystem as SOL and ETH down as much as 80% from their all-time highs in the past year.
Magic Eden previously raised a $27 million Series A led by Paradigm, Sequoia and Solana Ventures in March.
Raises from institutional investors are beginning to taper off given the dismal state of the crypto market. For his part, Lu is unfazed.
“Markets will do what markets do – we are excited to build on a 10+ year time horizon,” he said via email, adding:
“We see this capital as a measure of our investor confidence in Magic Eden and the broader crypto market. The additional investment will allow us to achieve our goal to onboard the next billion users to Web3 without being constrained by market cycles.”
The article is originally published in Coin Desk