NF3X Labs Raises $1.65M to Launch Community’s First NFT Exchange Marketplace

NF3X Labs, an upcoming marketplace for non-fungible token exchange and funding, announced Friday that it raised $1.65 million in seed funding to launch its fully peer-to-peer marketplace for trading crypto collectibles.

The seed round was led by Infinity Ventures Crypto and Spartan Group, with participation from DWF Labs and Saison Capital. Other investors backing the round included founder of crypto venture capital firm LeadBlock, David Chreng, co-founder of crypto exchange Bitmex, Arthur Hayes and Neil Gomes, EMEA head of fintech at Softbank.

NFT3 was founded by Poorvi Sachar and members of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT art collection Skittlewood and 0xStarmowaboth of whom chose to use pseudonyms.

Non-fungible tokens are a type of blockchain-enabled crypto-asset that represents ownership of virtual objects such as files, digital artwork, music, videos, digital collectibles, video game items, and more. Using the underlying blockchain, these records of ownership can be minted, bought, sold and traded, enabling markets for collectors.

Current marketplaces, such as OpenSea and Rarible, enable traders to buy and sell NFTs for cryptocurrency, but trading is not a common option. It also does little to offer a way for collectors to buy an NFT now and pay later. As a result, the founders decided to build a marketplace that could give collectors the opportunity to collect and trade their NFTs as trading cards and become part of a market that treated them as collectibles again.

“Collecting and trading NFTs should be a common, effortless and enjoyable activity similar to trading cards,” said Sachar. “We want to change the way peer-to-peer exchanges work by building a secure platform where members of the different communities can exchange, communicate and seek funding in their fundraising journey. “

By enabling users to trade and trade NFTs, NF3 hopes to allow them to return to their collecting roots and “trade up” for a rarity in the same way that trading card collectors might during a swap meet. With additional funding opportunities, the exchange will also enable them to engage in even more opportunities to interact with collectibles and other owners.

The funding of NF3 comes at a time when NFT markets have declined significantly since last year’s boom, which reached $17 billion in sales. However, that revenue crashed in 2022, according to a Reuters report, falling during the third quarter of this year to just $3.4 billion in sales, down from $8.4 billion in the previous quarter.

Venture capital interest in NFT marketplaces has also slowed following the falling markets, Crunchbase reported in November. In the first quarter of 2022, $2.1 billion was invested in NFT companies, but this quickly decreased, more than halving in the second quarter with less than $850 million invested; Crunchbase estimated that if the trend continued, the fourth quarter would fall 80% off the peak in the first quarter.

Despite cold times for NFTs, NF3’s investors are still hot on the subject and see the new marketplace as something that will provide the public with new opportunities.

“As traders become more sophisticated, they demand trading venues that allow them to do more, and the growth of the NFT market has sparked an increase in financing options for creators and collectors,” said Kelvin Koh, co-founder of Spartan Group. “Together with products that NF3 offers for its users goes beyond spot buying and selling.”

Image: NF3X Labs