Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden reaches $1.6 billion valuation

Magic Eden, the largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace on the Solana blockchain, has raised $130 million in a Series B funding round and is now valued at $1.6 billion. 

Electric Capital and Greylock Partners led the round, with Lightspeed Venture Partners and previous investors Paradigm and Sequoia Capital also participating, according to an announcement on Tuesday. 

Magic Eden's Series B round comes just three months after it unveiled a $27 million Series A round led by Paradigm. At the time, the firm didn't disclose its valuation, but it was valued at up to $162 million, according to Dealroom estimates. That means Magic Eden's valuation has soared nearly nine times in just three months.

Valuation surge 

Investors were attracted by Magic Eden's fast growing share of the market on Solana, co-founder and CEO Jack Lu told The Block in an interview.

According to The Block's Data Dashboard, Magic Eden is currently the third-largest NFT marketplace by trading volumes. It was launched less than a year ago in October.

Another reason investors wanted to take part in Magic Eden's round is the firm's recent expansion in gaming NFTs, said Lu. "Investors were very optimistic about our expansion in this area given our strong start in this category," he said.

Magic Eden says its games discovery portal, Eden Games, has launched 45 games and seen 90% of all gaming NFT volume on Solana since its launch in March of this year.

Notably, Magic Eden managed to close the round in the current market downturn. Lu said the round was completed earlier this month and is an equity round.

Expansion plans

With fresh capital in hand, Magic Eden plans to further improve its main peer-to-peer NFT marketplace and a primary marketplace called Launchpad, which serves creators and helps them launch their own NFT collections.

Lu said Magic Eden aims to serve creators and end-users across their NFT journey — from buying to community engagement.

Magic Eden, which currently only supports Solana, also plans to launch on more blockchains. Zhuoxun Yin, the firm's other co-founder and its COO, declined to name those blockchains in the interview but said, "we are considering all the ones that you would expect."

More and specific details on the multi-chain expansion strategy will be shared "in the coming weeks," he added.

There are currently about 100 people working for Magic Eden and the firm plans to add about 50 more in the next six to 12 months, said Lu. He is hiring across functions, including engineering and product management.

Magic Eden is also "conceptually open" to the idea of launching its own token, according to Lu. "But we don't have specific plans to share on that front yet," he added.