Solana NFT Startup Dust Labs Raises $7M as y00ts Top NFT Lists

Solana NFT project y00ts has gotten off to a hot start since its launch last night, topping the secondary markets as NFTs sell for a significant premium over the mint price. And amid the hype over the rollout, the Web3 technology company associated with the project has raised a seed round from some notable investors.

Dust Labs, a tech startup connected to both y00ts and the popular DeGods The NFT project, has raised $7 million in funding from a number of venture capital companies. Participants in the round are i.a FTX Ventures and Solana Ventures, as well as top Solana NFT marketplace Magical EdenSolana NFT protocol producer Metaplexand firms Foundation Capital and Jump.

The startup was created by the success of DeGods, currently most valuable NFT profile picture (PFP) project at Solana blockchain. It was founded by the creator of DeGods, who simply goes by Frankbut has its own CEO (who goes by Kevin) and is focused on “building software that helps NFT communities provide more value to their holders,” per website.

Frank told Decrypt in a Twitter DM today that Dust Labs is a “technology company spun off” from the DeGods project, rather than a parent company like Yuga Labs and Bored Ape Yacht Club. Dust Labs is credited for building y00ts minting websitefor example.

Dust Labs’ DUST tool token originally launched as a reward for DeGods holders, it is the only token that buyers can use to mint a y00ts NFT in the primary sale. The token will also be accepted by Magic Eden as it integrates Solana-based tokens from various NFT projects.

An NFT is a blockchain token that can represent ownership of an item, including digital goods such as PFPs, artwork, collectibles, and video game items. Solana is the second largest NFT ecosystem behind Ethereum.

y00ts debuted late Sunday with a total of 15,000 Solana-based collectibles. The NFTs were available for purchase by DeGods holders as well as those accepted into an exclusive whitelist in recent weeks—including celebrities such as football legend Wayne Rooney and comedian Howie Mandel.

Each NFT from the coin is called a “t00b” and it can be burned (or permanently destroyed) in exchange for the actual y00ts NFT, which is a profile picture. That process is scheduled to start on September 9although it is unclear whether delays to the first NFT issue will affect that timing.

Minting a t00b NFT costs 375 DUST, which was worth about $875 at the start of the mint last night, but is now worth around $915 as of this writing. Everyone on the y00t list can mark until 5 p.m. ET today — for 19 hours in total — though the creators said they can expand the window due to technical problems last night. DeGods owners can mint a y00ts NFT at any time, although the coin price is slated to increase gradually over time.

According to data from the NFT Marketplace aggregator Hyperspace—also a Dust Labs investor—y00ts has already generated more than $6 million in secondary sales. The floor price, or the cost of the cheapest available NFT listed on a marketplace, is currently 139 SOL or around $4,400. About 96% of secondary sales have took place at Magic Eden.

Last night, y00ts replaced the Ethereum Name Service as the best-selling NFT project across secondary markets, per data from OpenSea, the leading marketplace across all blockchain networks. y00ts is not only the most sold NFT project in the last 24 hours now, but also in the last week, according to OpenSea’s rankings.

Originally, the y00ts launch was scheduled to take place on September 2, but was delayed following recent issues—temporary bans of the y00ts and DeGods accounts on Twitter last week, plus a late “blocking bug” on Sunday before the planned deployment. Issuing it appeared during the mint was apparently linked to the project’s own technology, not the Solana network—which before recent upgrades had crashed during high-profile NFT launches.