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Blockchain

Samsung Next ramps up investment in NFT ventures

With the global NFT market growing eightfold over the last two years, Samsung is increasing presence in the scene

By Jul 14, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)

2 Min read

Warner Bros. and Samsung-invested Nifty’s jointly launched Space Jam: A New Legacy NFTs.
Warner Bros. and Samsung-invested Nifty’s jointly launched Space Jam: A New Legacy NFTs.

Samsung Electronics Co. is betting big on non-fungible token (NFT) companies through its venture capital unit Samsung Next, headquartered in Mountain View, California.  

Samsung Next said on July 12 that it has taken part in the $10 million seed round to fund the world’s first social NFT platform Nifty’s Inc. Other investors included Coinbase Ventures, Dapper Labs and Topps.

NFTs are blockchain-based virtual tokens that each represent a unique asset such as a piece of art, digital content or media. These tokens are non-fungible as each one contains a unique identifier that makes it one of a kind. NFTs became one of the hottest investment trends this year, especially after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s successful sale of his first-ever tweet at a price over $2.9 million in March.

“We are excited to help fund Nifty’s $10 million seed round to supercharge the launch of the platform. Nifty’s is the first vertically integrated social NFT platform that enables users to create, collect, discover and curate digital collectibles scattered across the NFT universe,” said Samsung Next in a statement.

The Miami-based Nifty’s is essentially a social platform for creators, collectors and curators of NFTs. The company has recently partnered with Warner Bros. to offer a total of 91,000 Space Jam: A New Legacy NFTs to its users for collection and trading.

SAMSUNG NEXT’S INVESTMENT IN THE NFT SECTOR

Samsung Next has been active in funding various types of NFT ventures. Previously, Samsung Next invested in Dapper Labs, which in 2017 developed the CryptoKitties, a blockchain game that allows players to purchase, collect, breed and sell virtual cats.

CryptoKitties by Samsung-invested Dapper Labs. 
CryptoKitties by Samsung-invested Dapper Labs. 

Other investments made earlier this year include the one made in SuperRare, an NFT digital art marketplace established in 2018.

“The fundamental problem SuperRare solves is that it builds a trusted community that gives artists direct access to buyers. SuperRare is helping to democratize art collecting, which has long been an opaque and exclusive market, inaccessible to most people,” said Samsung Next in a statement.

SuperRare is an NFT digital art marketplace established in 2018.
SuperRare is an NFT digital art marketplace established in 2018.

Samsung Venture Investment Corp., another Samsung unit that specializes in venture investment, on July 2 participated in the $50 million funding round by Hong Kong’s blockchain startup Animoca Brands. Animoca is known for gamification technologies, which apply game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts.

The global NFT market size is projected to expand rapidly, even after having grown by more than eight times within the last two years. According to the annual industry report by NonFungible.com, the NFT market size has grown from $41 million at the end of 2018 to $338 million by the end of 2020.  

Write to Jeong-soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com
Daniel Cho edited this article.
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