Paradigm leads $20 million round for Fractional as it rebrands to Tessera

Collective NFT ownership platform Fractional announced on Wednesday that it is rebranding to Tessera and has closed a $20 million Series A fundraising round led by Paradigm. 

The round closed earlier this summer, according to a press release. Other investors include Uniswap Labs, E Girl Capital and Focus Labs, as well as more than 50 angel investors including DC Investor and Keyboard Monkey. 

Co-founded by Andy Chorlian in 2021, Tessera, which originally launched under the name Fractional, is a platform that enables individuals from all over the world to come together and collectively own some of the most sought-after non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and projects. 

NFT collections on Fractional include CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Pudgy Penguins and Cool Cats. 

Over time, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) have also emerged on the platform, such as Doge NFT and Free Ross DAO, according to the release. 

“As we grow into this next phase, the name Tessera feels more representative of our platform, which is all about giving people the ability to collect things they love and identify with,” said a Tessera spokesperson over email. 

“Fractional was starting to feel a bit too financial and limited in scope, whereas Tessera speaks to the countless different ways people can use NFTs,” they added. 

Over the next few days, Fractional’s social channels will switch over to the new Tessera branding and content, per the release. 

Tessera’s Series A comes almost a year after the startup raised a total of $7.9 million in seed funding, a round which was also led by Paradigm.  

The Block Research's July funding recap shows that NFT and gaming startups have remained popular amongst investors for funding in the wider blockchain sector over the past 12 months. 

The Block Research

Monthly blockchain/crypto venture funding from The Block Research

This article has been updated to reflect Tessera's total seed funding.