Reddit’s Ohanian Leads $54 Million Doodles Capital Raise

Doodles, the company that creates colorful profile pictures in a generally difficult time for the non-fungible token (NFT) market, today announced a $54 million hit, backed by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s 776. Raised equity capital. Acrew Capital, FTX Ventures and 10T Holdings also participated. by fundraising.

Doodles, who started creating Pastel NFTs less than a year ago, have created one of the largest profile photo collections on the internet. According to NFTPriceFloor, the total value of the 10,000 image collection is approximately $121 million. His major NFT series, Bored Ape Yacht Club, has a market valuation of his $1.27 billion.

The Doodles collection is based on 100 visual traits that are mixed and matched in different combinations to create unique creations. No two are alike. They can be purchased for just 6.9 ais ($12,183), although some sold for 296.69 ais (about $1.1 million at the time of sale) due to their rare attributes.

The rarest examples retain their gold color. #6914, The most expensive doodle ever sold, with unique ape features.

The company plans to use the proceeds from the capital inflow to boost its valuation to $704 million and use it to expand its growing interest in the music, games and NFT sectors.

Overall NFT prices and deals have plummeted in recent months. After hitting around $3.5 billion in trading volume in May, he traded just $191 million in August. block.

But Doodle is swimming against the current. Collection trading volume is still down by 6.41% in the last 30 days, but his main NFT collection has been hit even harder. Bored Ape Yacht Club under CryptoPunks, the second largest NFT collection by market value ($1.09 billion), has 40%. off A staggering 77%. A bear market combined with a shift away from risky investing has led to a decline in NFT trading.

776 founding partner and Doodles board member Katelin Holloway was introduced to Doodles by early Doodle collector Ohanian. But that was after he met the Doodles team at SXSW.
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Last year, she was quickly drawn into the brand’s diverse community.

Doodles CEO Julian Hoguin said Doodles is using Holloway’s experience as a human resources executive to expand both internally and externally.

Hoguin said: shows a strong history of community integration since it was first created in October. The management team controversial The decision to close the collection’s Discord channel at 1,000 participants upon initial launch is a move that might have been expected to alienate potential collectors. However, this action backfired, creating hype within his blossoming NFT community and increasing the popularity of the artwork. The collection now includes major collectors such as DJ Steve Aoki, Justin Bieber and entrepreneur Gary Vee.

Since then, the team has continued to work with collectors, allowing Doodle owners to commercialize NFTs for up to $100,000. Before requesting a license agreement, We may even hire the owner of the work or the creator of the derivative work as an illustrator.

“We’re really passionate about developing opportunities for other people to use their characters in their own commercial endeavors,” says Hoguin. “We just need to control it.”

Doodles welcomed singer Pharrell Williams as chief brand officer in June, opening the door to various applications of blockchain technology. According to Holguin, music NFTs are a way to introduce people to Web3, an early idea for a new decentralized internet model based on blockchain.

“We want to create a product for our core collector base, but at the same time we want to use great marketing forms such as music to introduce new people to Web3 and join the Doodles ecosystem. I will,” he adds.

The Doodles music NFT project will be released in the next 6 months in partnership with Columbia Records. The company didn’t provide any details other than saying it will get radio play and streaming exposure but will include songs that have an “underlying adaptive experience” for NFT owners.

Doodles’ second focus area, NFTs used in games, has grown to become the most traded type, surpassing the art and collectibles hype in 2021. block.

The company’s gaming division, Space Doodles, aims to make it easier for people to enter the Doodles ecosystem. According to the company, users will be able to purchase characters and animations with credit cards instead of asking for virtual currency.