Haun Ventures leads $50 million round in NFT startup Zora Labs – TechCrunch
The NFT ecosystem continues to grow, but much of the volume is still moving through the centralized halls of the OpenSea NFT marketplace, leaving crypto VCs eager to find new channels.
Katie Haun’s new firm, Haun Ventures, has spearheaded the first deal in the startup NFT Zora Labs. A $50 million funding round values the company at $600 million.
Zora’s protocol allows artists and developers to create NFT marketplaces and collections. Zora has its own main marketplace where users can list NFTs, similar to OpenSea, but the majority of NFTs sold on its protocol take place on third-party websites. Cryptocurrency institutions such as publishing startup Mirror and collective FWB have leveraged Zora’s protocol to sell NFTs to community members.
In addition to Haun Ventures, backers in this round include Coinbase Ventures and Kindred Ventures. Haun notably led OpenSea’s Series B while at a16z, winning a seat on the board.