Atlanta startup MomentRanks Inc. has raised $4.2 million to expand its NFT analysis and portfolio platform, according to an Oct. 29 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Why it matters: The raise comes less than a year after MomentRanks was founded and a few months after its first, $1.7 million round. Supported by leading cryptocurrency investors, this round shows initial success for the new platform. NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, are the latest trend emerging in the crypto industry. NFTs use blockchain technology to produce unique digital products that people can buy or trade with cryptocurrency. NFT sales grew to $2.5 billion in the first half of 2021, according to Reuters, demonstrating the market opportunity for MomentRanks.
Atlanta, a global hub for financial technology, has a growing number of crypto startups building on that legacy. Atlanta is home to BitPay, the largest global blockchain payment provider, and Bakkt (NYSE: BKKT), a newly public digital currency marketplace created by the Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) that has become a poster child for institutional support of cryptocurrency.
Inside the deal: New York-based Acrylic, an early-stage venture firm focused on crypto, led the round. Coinbase Ventures, the investing arm of crypto trading site Coinbase, also participated. Existing investors, which include Dapper Labs, also participated, MomentRanks CEO Danny Adkins said.
About the company: MomentRanks is a dashboard that allows NFT collectors to manage their portfolios, interact with other collectors and analyze NFT pricing and other data. The company initially focused on Dapper Labs’ National Basketball Association Top Shot NFTs, which are short video clips of moments in professional basketball games — a modernized version of trading cards. Adkins and Will Hay, both former interns at BitPay, founded the startup in February.
What’s next: MomentRanks plans to expand the dashboard to include other NFT trading opportunities. Dapper Labs is collaborating with the National Football League to create similar NFTs of football games to drive fan engagement. Adkins sees the collaboration as possibly tripling the number of NFT collectors and bringing more mainstream attention to the pieces. The startup has about 15 employees and plans to hire about 10 more, focusing on product development.
