LA’s newest star has skyrocketed to fame so quickly it’s only a matter of time until they’re gracing the cover of Rolling Stone. Well…maybe not. Either way, NFTs have taken center stage in the City of Angels. Over the last year, Tinseltown has become a hot spot of financial activity for NFT platforms and the tech used to support them. These up-and-comers are selling a wide range of digital collectibles, including autographed sports cards, exclusive music, art and more.
The latest one to make headlines? Unblocked. The LA-based NFT platform announced last Friday that it raised $10 million in seed financing. The raise was backed by venture giant Tiger Global in addition to a few A-list celebrities. Grammy-nominated pop star Shawn Mendes and rap legend Jay-Z participated in the raise, the latter via his venture firm, Marcy Venture Partners.
Unblocked, also known as the Non Fungible Token Company (NFTCo) finalized its $5 million pre-seed round last summer. With the latest investment, Unblocked has raised a total of $15 million at a post-money valuation of over $90 million, according to the company.
Unblocked leverages NFTs to connect fans with some of the biggest names in music and entertainment. The company teamed up with Primary Wave Music and hip-hop group Cypress Hill to launch its first batch of NFTs last December. The batch included a wide range of autographed digital collectibles priced anywhere from $20 to nearly $2,000.
“We had been searching for a partner to build our NFT project with, and once we met with Unblocked, it was clear that we had found a match,” Julian Holguin, president of Billboard, said in a statement. Billboard is owned by Penske Media Corp., another investor listed in Unblocked’s latest round.
“After hearing their vision for Web3 and learning more about their backgrounds, we knew they were the right partner,” Holguin continued.
Following the latest raise, the company plans to expand far beyond the world of music. Wang told dot.LA that “almost every sector” is on the table. So far, he has his sights set on the sports, fitness, gaming and alcohol industries, to name a few.
Additional investors Electric Feel Entertainment and Dapper Labs participated in the raise, among others.
