Key Takeaways

• NFT platforms raised a combined $933 million, and infrastructure raised $155 million in new funding this week
• Deal of the Week: Sorare, a soccer-NFT platform closed a $680 million Series B funding round
• Active investors this week include Softbank, Coinbase Ventures, and Digital Currency Group

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Venture Capital Deals

Blockdaemon, a New York-based startup that builds blockchain nodes and other tech, has raised $155 million at a valuation of $1.26 billion. The Series B funding was led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2. New investors include Matrix Capital Management, Sapphire Ventures and Morgan Creek Digital. Existing investors consist of Boldstart Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Greenspring Associates, CoinFund, Kenetic, Kraken Ventures, Borderless Capital, and Lerer Hippeau. (Blockdaemon Raises $155 Million in Series B Funding).

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Taker Protocol, a crypto liquidity protocol for NFTs, has raised $3 million from several reputable investors to build new financial primitives into the burgeoning NFT market. Taker Protocol focuses on improving the liquidity available in the NFT market. Due to the unique non-fungible structure of NFTs, existing DeFi primitives are difficult to integrate into the market, resulting in significant issues in terms of overall liquidity. The value of an NFT is ex...