Dapper Labs has completed $12 million in funding directed by the National Basketball Association (NBA) stars, Spencer Dinwiddie, Andre Iguodala, JaVale McGee, Aaron Gordon, and Garrett Temple.
Roham Gharegozlou, founder and CEO of Dapper Labs, explained that the funds will be used to further develop blockchain games. This includes the possible launch of a private beta version of NBA Top Shot.
NBA Top Shot runs on the developer’s custom flow blockchain. After the collapse of CryptoKitties in 2017, the company abandoned the Ethereum blockchain due to concerns about scalability.
A new round of venture capital firms like Coinbase Ventures and existing partners Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Cultural Leadership Fund have also joined this round of financing. According to Crunchbase, Dapper Labs has raised $51 million in seven rounds of funding so far.
NBA Top Shot
The Block originally reported, sales of NBA Top Shot exceeded $1.2 million three months after the beta was released. The app allows basketball fans to purchase officially licensed digital tokens that resemble the list of players in trading card games.
“Flow can create the vehicle for consumers to enter the space through products like NBA Top Shot where they have fun, but at the same time create a new self-sovereignty.”
Dinwiddie said in a statement.
Basketball and Blockchain Adoption
NBA players like Dinwiddie and McGee are not unfamiliar with cryptocurrency investments. According to Gharegozlou, Dinwiddie symbolized his experiment with NBA contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, and McGee was an early investor in Bitcoin.
Iguodala has also had some success as a fintech investor. He realized the potential of Zoom as the main business of the epidemic.
“Blockchain technology has the potential to completely change consumer ownership on the Internet.” “Projects like Dapper Labs’ Flow are already driving consumer adoption, and NBA Top Shot proves it. The experience is not only engaging but also smooth and friendly.”
Iguodala said in a statement:
