DeepNFTValue raises $4 million to expand beyond pricing CryptoPunks

DeepNFTValue, a crypto startup that estimates the worth of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) using machine-learning techniques, has raised $4 million in a seed funding round as it plans to expand its offerings.

DeepNFTValue currently only estimates prices of CryptoPunk NFTs, based on its attributions and transaction history. With fresh funding in place, the startup plans to cover other leading NFT collections including Bored Apes, CloneX, Azuki, and ArtBlocks, it said on Friday.

The seed funding round was led by Rockaway Blockchain Fund, with 1Confirmation and Cygni Capital participating, among other unidentified investors.

DeepNFTValue was founded earlier this year by Nikolai Yakovenko, a machine-learning expert who previously worked for Google, Twitter, Nvidia, and Point72 Asset Management. Yakovenko recently said in a blog post that machine learning is one of the best ways to accurately price NFTs, compared with human evaluation, because humans are biased, among other factors.

In short, DeepNFTValue provides a "fair value estimate" for NFTs that buyers can then use to compare against the sale price.

"Nobody wants their collection mispriced, particularly in a DeFi protocol such as a lending contract, because of insufficient attention to modeling," Yakovenko said in a Friday statement. "People are always surprised at how much robust and efficient modeling costs, in terms of researcher time and data, and raw computing."

DeepNFTValue also plans to use a portion of the seed round for GPU hardware, which it says is necessary for training the most sophisticated machine-learning models with deep-learning methods.