OnChain Studios is betting your kid's next favorite toy could be an NFT.
The Miami-based startup said it raised $7.5 million in seed funding in a financing round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). OnChain will use the funds to launch Cryptoys, an interactive line of digital toys that consumers can purchase, play with, collect and sell online. The startup plans to release Cryptoys on Flow, a blockchain designed for non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles and crypto games.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the world-class team at OnChain Studios to bring Cryptoys to life and introduce the joys of NFT gaming to mainstream audiences," a16z General Partner Arianna Simpson said in a statement.
Dapper Labs, the Canadian blockchain firm that developed Flow; Fort Lauderdale-based Draper & Associates; CoinFund; venture capital firm Sound Ventures; Collab + Currency, a crypto-focused venture fund, and WndrCo, a California technology investment firm, also participated in the funding round.
OnChain Studios was founded this year by Alfonso Martinez and Will Weinraub, who also serves as CEO. Weinraub is one of the founding partners of Flamingo Capital, a Miami investment group that launched earlier this year.
An NFT is a unit of data stored on blockchain, a digital ledger that certifies a digital asset is one of a kind and can't be replaced with a copy. NFTs can be used to represent virtual items such as photos, videos and music, but have made headlines for fueling digital art sales. It's one of the digital assets that make up that so-called crypto economy, which also includes blockchain and cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.
"Cryptoys is a perfect example of the compelling new NFT gaming and entertainment experiences that are now possible," Simpson said.
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