What is a VC funded NFT project?
A VC funded project is an NFT collection that has garnered the attention of wealthy outside investors known as Venture Capitalists (VCs). These figures typically contribute their money to projects that exude great potential for future success. In many cases, the funding is intended for the development of blockchain gaming, which has been a mostly untapped yet highly anticipated sector of Web3.
VC funding reassures NFT holders that there is massive upside and long-term potential for the project to develop valuable utility. For this reason, VC funded projects have been soaring in value over the last few weeks.
Examples of VC funded projects
There have been a handful of NFT projects receiving VC funding, but by far the most prominent example was the recent project DigiDaigaku. This project launched for free as a stealth drop on August 9th, 2022. Shortly after minting out its collection of 2022 NFTs, the project revealed that it was created by a company called Limit Break, which was founded by well-known game designers Gabriel Leydon & Halbert Nakagawa. For those who are unfamiliar, this duo also founded the company Machine Zone Inc. which created the wildly popular games: Game of War: Fire Age, Mobile Strike, and Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire. With their impressive resumes revealed to holders, the floor price of DigiDaigaku began to spike.
On top of that, the company announced that they had been VC funded for a massive $200M with the intent of building out a game around the NFT collection. Naturally, this news sent the floor price into orbit, with prices topping out around 15 ETH (~$20,000 at the time) before settling back down around 10 ETH. The current highest sale was for DigiDaigaku # 379, a 1 of 1 NFT (pictured below) that sold for a whopping 59 ETH!
The company plans to use the funding to build out a gaming experience that will hopefully help bridge the gap between Web2 & Web3. They are no strangers to “free to play” games, as they pioneered this model with Machine Zone, a company that sold for $300M in 2020. In this new venture, they chose to create a “free to own” business model, where holders will be given their in-game assets for free in the form of airdrops. It has worked out for them so far, as their collection currently has over 7200 ETH in volume traded – at 10% creator royalties, this works out to be 720 ETH (currently worth around $1M) in revenue in just over a month. They are currently equipped to be a leading force in Web3 gaming.
How to find the next big NFT success story
The best thing you can do right now is pay attention. Most investors miss out on life-changing opportunities because they stray too far from the NFT space when it becomes uninteresting to them. However, some of the greatest opportunities can come from seemingly nothing. In the case of DigiDaigaku, a free stealth mint may have come off as “probably nothing” to many NFT investors, but turned out to be an overwhelming success.
To give yourself the greatest chance of landing huge profits, make sure to keep yourself informed on the various mints coming out each day. Follow NFT influencers that have a knack for finding hidden gems. Chat about upcoming mints with fellow community members in your favorite Discord servers. And last but not least: always make sure to take advantage of a free mint when it’s available. You never know when you’ll stumble upon the next NFT gold mine.
For more tips on how to trade NFTs, read our exclusive interview with one of the most successful NFT traders in history.
