Quick take:
- Pudgy Penguins has announced a $9 million seed round led by 1kx.
- Big Brain Holdings, Kronos Research, the founders of LayerZero Labs, Old Fashion Research, and CRIT Ventures also participated in the round.
- The company said it will use the funds to scale its IP and team and enhance its offerings to its growing community.
Pudgy Penguins has completed a $9 million funding round led by 1kx, an investment company that focuses on early-stage opportunities. The seed round also attracted participation from Big Brain Holdings, Kronos Research, the founders of LayerZero Labs, Old Fashion Research, and CRIT Ventures.
Pudgy Penguins is a leading web3 IP company that also offers an NFT collection based on its trade name. The company focuses on making web3 more accessible to the masses by creating products that accelerate user onboarding.
Pudgy Penguins said in a press release on Tuesday the latest fundraising will be used to scale its IP and team and enhance its offerings to its growing community.
The company’s NFT collection enables holders to participate in live events, create content leveraging their NFTs, monetize their IP, and purchase physical toys, books, and merchandise based on the NFTs they hold.
The Pudgy Penguins NFT collection features 8,888 NFTs. Since debuting on OpenSea, the collection has transacted 160,205 ETH in volume ~$295.6 million based on the ETH price at the time of writing. The collection’s current floor price currently stands at 4.3599 ETH, ~$8,045 and receives a minimum of 5% royalty fees from secondary sales.
The company was founded in 2021 before being acquired by LA-based entrepreneur and Web3 leader Luca Netz in April 2022. By allowing its community to use their NFTs for branded merch and toys, Pudgy Penguins has established itself as one of the leading brands to offer major licensing opportunities to its holders.
Commenting on the latest fundraising, Luca Netz, Chief Executive Officer of Pudgy Penguins said: “Pudgy Penguins is more than just an NFT project – it is a transcendent IP brand that is providing a community of both crypto-native and non-crypto native consumers with enjoyable products, experiences, and content.”
According to the announcement, the Pudgy Penguins brand now boasts a massive community base made of over 450,000 followers on Instagram and engagement levels of over 3 billion views on its GIFs.
The company is expanding its ecosystem with the launch of a toyline, dubbed Pudgy Toys, which it aims to use to bring web3 technology and the blockchain to consumers at home.
Commenting on his company’s leading role in the fundraising, Peter Pan, Partner at 1kx said: “Pudgy Penguins is curating a unique, thoughtful, and fun community for NFT holders that makes the Web3 experience inclusive, unintimidating, and user-friendly.”
“As a community-driven brand that embraces creative and innovative ideas and collaborations, Pudgy Penguins is well-positioned to redefine how we think about digital asset IP. We are proud to support Pudgy Penguins’ strong team as it works to build a mass-adoptable brand,” Pan added.
On the other hand, Kasey, Partner at Big Brain Holdings commented: “Pudgy Penguins is leading the way in creating a culture of tight-knit community and IP utilization. Their thesis of building an IP company, and the growth that has already taken place, is exactly what the Web3 space needs to reach new heights.”
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