By
Andy Watson
April 26th, 2024
NFTfi’s recent funding success is part of a larger trend of venture capital investments flowing into the crypto industry.
NFTfi, a non-fungible token platform focused on lending and borrowing, has successfully completed its Series A funding round, raising $6 million. The new funding round brings the company’s total fundraising efforts to $15 million.
The company initially secured $5 million in a seed round back in November 2021, during the height of the NFT boom. Since then, NFTfi has established itself as a key player in the NFT lending market, with a total loan volume of $534 million.
Strong Investor Confidence
The successful completion of the Series A funding round marks a significant milestone for NFTfi, indicating strong investor confidence in the company’s vision and growth potential.
Placeholder VC led the new funding round, which was participated in by other institutional investors, including Maven 11, Launch Labs Inc, Kahuna Ventures, Brevan Howard, The LAO, Reciprocal, a_capital Ventures, Hash, Bloccelerate, Cypher Capital, and Longhash Ventures.
The company plans to use the newly acquired funds to enhance its decentralized application (dApp) by introducing support for manual peer-to-peer loans. This enhancement is expected to give users more flexibility and control over their lending activities on the platform.
Additionally, NFTfi intends to expand the features of its software development kit (SDK) to improve liquidity on the platform and enhance the overall user experience.
Commitment to NFT Finance
According to an official press release, the company is committed to developing an open settlement layer dedicated to NFT finance. The NFT lending firm said the new initiative aligns with its goal of facilitating seamless and efficient transactions within the NFT ecosystem.
By enhancing its platform and expanding its features, NFTfi aims to solidify its position and expand its presence in the rapidly evolving NFT lending market. The company said that lenders on the platform have earned over $15 million in interest since its inception in 2020.
NFTfi accepts various NFTs as collateral on its platform, including CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Art Blocks, Autoglyphs, Doodles, Pudgy Penguins, Azuki, Clone X, and Otherdeed.
Not the First
NFTfi’s recent funding success is part of a larger trend of venture capital investments flowing into the crypto industry. The resurgence of venture capital investments in the digital asset space comes after the market downturn in 2022, which saw billions of dollars wiped out from the industry.
According to PitchBook, VCs contributed a total of $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, marking a 2.5% increase compared to the previous quarter. This trend has continued into 2024, with many companies receiving investments across various sectors of the crypto economy.
Last week, Coinspeaker reported that Baanx, a blockchain payment firm, secured a $20 million investment. The funding is intended to bolster Baanx’s product offerings and expand its presence from the United Kingdom to the United States and Latin America.
During the same period, another crypto firm, Sahara, raised $6 million in a seed funding round. The company plans to utilize these funds to democratize global knowledge access.
Other firms, like TON Foundation and Zama, have also received significant investments from venture capital companies. Toncoin secured $8 million, while Zama received an impressive $73 million. These investments aim to enhance the companies’ business offerings and expand their market reach.