NFT startup Dapper Labs raises $250 million in new funding

Dapper Labs, the maker of the popular basketball NFT game platform NBA Top Shot, has raised $250 million in a new funding round.

Coatue Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investors a16z, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Version One Ventures. New investors, including BOND, a venture capital firm, and GIC, a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, also backed the round.

The new round comes six months after Dapper Labs raised $305 million in funding, also led by Coatue at the time. The latest round reportedly brings Dapper Labs' valuation to $7.6 billion.

With fresh capital at hand, Dapper Labs plans to scale its NBA Top Shot platform and support more sports, entertainment, and music-based products on its native Flow blockchain.

"Dapper Labs is growing quickly but we're just scratching the surface of what this new technology can do for people," said Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou. "We're excited to partner with our incredible investors to scale NBA Top Shot and launch our upcoming titles as well as unlock the potential of the open ecosystem building on Flow."

In separate news, Dapper Labs today also announced a partnership with the Spanish football league LaLiga to launch a new NFT experience for football fans in summer 2022.

Fans will be able to collect and own some of the iconic in-game moments from their favorite LaLiga clubs, said the two companies.