Pinata raised $21.5 million to optimize NFT distribution for Web3 creators
Pinata, a non-functional token content delivery network, said today that it has raised $21.5 million in funding to build an ultra-fast, reliable platform to deliver the media represented by NFTs such as images, video and apps.
The total comes from a recently closed $18 million Series A round led by Greylock and Pantera and a $3.5 million seed round led by Greylock and Offline Ventures. Other investors that participated in these rounds include Volt Capital, NFT marketplace OpenSea and blockchain infrastructure company Alchemy.
Non-fungible tokens are cryptoassets built on blockchain technology that represent the ownership of digital media such as art, music, video, memes, video game items, and even apps. They can be created, bought and sold, creating economies of scale. Since they can represent digital media, these media must be stored and displayed to users.
Pinata was founded in 2018 by CEO Kyle Tut and Chief Technology Officer Matt Ober with the goal of providing a secure content delivery platform to ensure that when a user requested to view a media file associated with an NFT, they would get what they requested.
Powerful storage networks already exist for NFTs, such as the InterPlanetary File System, or IPFS, but that only provides storage. It is possible that the media files stored in it may be difficult to access due to bandwidth issues, network delays or other issues. This is where Pinata steps in as a CDN.
“Legacy tools for creators all serve a good purpose for discovery and awareness, but fall short when it comes to building an authentic community and earning direct income,” Tut said. “Creators need storage capabilities and a fast and powerful way to distribute their content across marketplaces, metaverses, social media and the Internet at large.”
Capable of delivering content quickly to anyone with over 200 servers around the world, Pinata supports all types of media content including videos, photos, music and apps. The platform is designed to scale for entire marketplaces.
Users can also create their own specially branded, private content, allowing them to further monetize their NFTs. For example, using a new feature called “Submarining”, technical and non-technical creators can share unlockable content with their communities to owners of specific NFTs, geographic locations, payments or other gateways.
“Pinata empowers creators of all kinds to deliver content at scale with no technical experience required,” said Tut.
Today, Pinata hosts more than 240,000 users, up from 104,000 in January, and users have more than 120 million files attached. The company said it has seen more than 42 times year-over-year revenue growth, although it did not disclose absolute numbers.
The company now works with big names in the Web3 industry, including OpenSea, DraftKings, Protocol Labs, Autograph and Yuga Labs, creator of Bored Ape Yachts Club.
Greylock partner Mike Duboe said Pinata’s “anti-hype” approach kept them on the radar and the mission-critical infrastructure approach is what drove interest in a second round in the company.
“While current NFT activity is focused around static .jpeg files, we believe this is only the tip of the iceberg for this technology and that the most interesting applications around NFTs involve richer media,” Duboe said. “Pinata is the most complete offering to help creators and marketplaces program more advanced functionality into this medium.”
