Dibbs, which bills itself as “the only real-time fractional sports marketplace,” announced a $13 million Series A funding round on Tuesday (July 27) that included some high-profile athletes among its investors.
Launched in beta in March of this year, Dibbs lets fans buy and sell fractions of sports cards in real time. Dibbs assigns physical assets NFTs, which are fractionalized on blockchains such as thereum, Flow and WAX, with smart contracts determining ownership and other rights.
“Today’s new capital, which comes on the heels of a $2.8 million seed round announced in March 2021, enables Dibbs to scale its team, add new product verticals and expand globally. Dibbs is already resonating with collectors,” the Los Angeles-based company said in a news release. “During its limited iOS, invite-only beta that ended earlier this month, Dibbs processed millions of dollars across more than 110,000 trades.”
Investors in this round included the Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, and Chris Paul, point guard for the Phoenix Suns and 11 Time NBA All-Star.
“Social media was just the beginning. As new digital platforms are created, what it means to be a fan evolves, and it creates new, meaningful ways to connect with fans,” Paul said. “Dibbs levels the playing field for fans for whom the current collectibles market is inaccessible.”
Sports and sports memorabilia have become a large part of the NFT world since that term entered the national consciousness earlier this year. In March, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski announced he was selling more than 300 NFTs spotlighting moments during this year’s Super Bowl and the other three Super Bowls in which he’d played. The NFTs were in the form of digital trading cards, designed by the Brazilian art studio Black Madre and signed by Gronkowski.
Around the same time, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he was considering turning his team’s tickets into NFTs as a money-making venture. Cuban has his own digital currency wallet, has invested in blockchain firms like Mintable and has traded NFTs on his own.
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