Leading NFT marketplace and protocol announces partnerships with artists and creators Maxim, Ghostface, Johnny Nunez and Xeo Chu; will launch marketplace on Flow
Rarible, a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace and protocol for creating, selling, and collecting digital items, secured a Series A investment of $14.2 million led by Venrock and CoinFund, with participation from 01 Advisors. Rarible will use the funding to hire new team members and continue to build a community-owned, blockchain-based NFT marketplace, connecting digital content creators and buyers. In tandem with the Series A, Rarible announced that it will launch an NFT marketplace on the consumer-centric blockchain, Flow, in addition to its home base on rarible.com.
Rarible enables thousands of digital creators to find new monetization channels and direct ways to interact with communities. Since its initial launch in 2020, Rarible’s platform has seen more than $150 million in total sales of digital collectibles, as the company’s growth coincided with the rise of increased interest in NFTs. In the last year, trading volume on Rarible has grown 3,000-fold, establishing the company as the most user-friendly and mainstream NFT marketplace. In 2021, NFTs took the world by storm with its most tangible and timely use case so far: fuelling the creator economy amidst the pandemic, and marking the first shift from the internet of information to the internet of ownership.
“Just as we have always been at the forefront of the NFT movement, Rarible is determined to pioneer the next wave,” said Alexei Falin, CEO and co-founder of Rarible. “With this company milestone, we are thankful for the support of Venrock, 01 Advisors, and CoinFund and look forward to going beyond the current enclosed crypto environment and taking NFTs into mainstream consciousness.”
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Rarible envisions all digital content going on the blockchain as the next frontier of mass adoption. The next step for NFTs is to become the full-scale intellectual property rights to media content. This new trend is fuelled by mainstream players entering the stage – brands, celebrities and sports teams joining creators to find a new direct, authentic and meaningful connection with their audience. Notable figures to release NFTs on Rarible include Floyd Mayweather Jr., multi-platinum Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Ozuna and visual neo-pop artist Richard Orlinski.
Over the last few months, leading creators Mark Cuban, Lindsay Lohan, Tyga and Bhad Bhabie and brands Dole, Taco Bell and RIMOWA have successfully launched their collections on Rarible. Today, Rarible is announcing forthcoming NFT drops from artist and Prodigy frontman Maxim; rapper, songwriter and actor Ghostface; celebrity photographer Johnny Nunez; and painter Xeo Chu. More and more brands and leading digital creators are choosing to launch their NFTs on Rarible to reach the engaged and community drawn to the site.
Rarible will leverage Flow’s scalability and usability and launch as a primary and secondary marketplace in the platform, providing additional options for users to buy and sell NFTs. NFTs minted on Flow will also find a home on Rarible.
“Flow has a fantastic track record of bringing NFTs mainstream by creating native experiences for non-crypto audiences,” said Alexander Salnikov, Chief Product Officer and co-founder of Rarible. “As a blockchain, Flow enables easier access and lowers the entry barrier for consumers and brands via gasless minting, low-cost transactions, and scalability. As we enter the next stage, pursuing to further pioneer the mass adoption of NFTs, we see Flow as a perfect partner for this journey.”
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“We believe in Rarible’s decentralized and cryptonative vision for pioneering the next phase for NFTs and empowering the creator economy,” said David Pakman, partner at Venrock. “We expect major growth in the NFT space as more individual creators, musicians, brands, digital artists and influencers realize the value of digital collectibles and peer-to-peer transactions on platforms such as Rarible become more popular.”
“Rarible’s combination of NFT marketplace and NFT protocol makes the process of minting and selling NFTs seamless and environmentally sustainable for newcomers and cryptonative creators alike,” said Jake Brukhman, CEO, CoinFund. “Having launched the first community-owned and token-driven marketplace, the Rarible team were early innovators in the NFT space and are well-positioned to remain ahead of the curve as the sector expands. We’re excited to see what they do next.”
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