May 10, 2021
NFT Platform Bitski Receives $19 Million Investment From Jay-Z And Serena Williams
Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z and tennis champion Serena Williams have joined the cryptocurrency wave by investing nearly $20 million into NFT platform Bitski.
As NFT sales continue to skyrocket, the Brooklyn emcee and pro athlete deemed it necessary to get their piece of the pie. Bitski prides itself in being “the Shopify of NFTs” and will continue developing its platform after closing a $19 million Series A funding round led by Andreesen Horowitz, Forbes reports.
The company aims to provide a more seamless process when creating, buying, and selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The NFT market has steadily increased in recent years with sales jumping from $250 million to $389 million in 2020 alone, Yahoo Finance reports.
As the market continues to grow, Jay-Z’s Marcy Ventures Partners joined a $19 million funding round for Bitski along with Serena Williams, UpRoxx reports. Jay-Z’s Roc Nation co-founder Jay Brown is also on the list of investors along with Troy Carter, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, and 3LAU.
Joining the billionaire rap superstar and 23-time Grand Slam winner as Bitski investors are Wendi Murdoch, and executives from TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, 100 Thieves, and Adobe. Back in 2019, Bitski was backed in a $1.81 million seed funding round that included Galaxy Digital, Winklevoss Capital, and Coinbase Ventures, Coinbase reports.
Now with its latest round of Series A funding, Bitski plans to use the investment to “make the NFT economy more accessible for creators, brands, and enterprises,” it said in a statement. Just last week, Bitski conducted an auction of NFTs for Trevor Lawrence, the first pick in the 2021 NFL football Draft, HighSnobiety.com reports. The company has assisted major brands and companies like Adidas connect with consumers through the NFT marketplace.
With NFTs dominating the art buyers industry, art collectors and artists are both hopeful that investments in platforms like Bitski will help bring more authenticity, equity, and return on investment within the market.