The debut of Nifty’s social NFT platform came with much fanfare on Monday after the company announced a major partnership with Warner Bros. and $10 million in seed investments from some of blockchain’s biggest venture firms.
Through its Warner Bros. partnership, Nifty’s will launch a collection of limited-edition NFTs featuring characters from the upcoming movie Space Jam: A New Legacy, the company announced Monday. The movie will be released in theaters and for streaming on Friday, July 16.
The Space Jam NFTs were developed with the technology of Palm NFT Studio, which was developed by Ethereum software company ConsenSys.
The $10 million seed round included several notable investors, such as Samsung Next, Palm NFT Studio, Coinbase Ventures, BBTV Holdings Inc., HENI, Topps, Forerunner Ventures, Dapper Labs, A&T Capital and Liberty City Ventures. Several pre-seed investors also upped their stake in Nifty’s, including Polychain Capital, Ethereal Ventures and Draper Dragon Fund.
David Lee, executive vice president at Samsung and the head of Samsung Next venture group, touted Nifty’s innovation within the NFT space:
“Our business strives to shape the future by identifying the technologies, trends and ideas that matter. [...] What Nifty’s has developed in such a short time deeply impressed us, and we cannot wait to see how they shape the future of NFT engagement.”
Nifty’s first announced its NFT-focused social media platform in March of this year, touting big names like Mark Cuban and Joseph Lubin as investors. The project’s ultimate vision is to create a social media community for digital collectibles that supports the new art scene while boosting personal interactions.
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The NFT market has blossomed in 2021 thanks to the growing mainstream acceptance of digital assets and, by extension, digital collectibles. As Cointelegraph reported, NFT sales topped $2.5 billion in the first half of the year. NFT trade volumes have also soared, with at least one estimate projecting a doubling in volume between May and October.