NFT Site Backed by Mark Cuban, Ashton Kutcher Raises New Funds

(Bloomberg) -- Ripple Labs and Animoca Brands are among participants in a funding round for Mintable, a minting platform and marketplace for nonfungible tokens.

Others in the $13 million fundraising include NFT investment fund Metapurse -- the famous NFT investment fund backed by MetaKovan -- and former Bill Clinton adviser Doug Band, according to a statement from the company. Mintable said it plans to use the money to scale its operations, and boost its growth and user acquisition initiatives.

The firm has already received backing this year from billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Guy Oseary and Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures, Marc Benioff's TIME Ventures, Crypto.com and LongHash Ventures, among others.

NFTs have been around for several years but exploded into popular consciousness in the past year with some high-profile sales including the purchase by Vignesh Sundaresan, also known as MetaKovan, of digital artist Beeple's “Everydays: the First 5,000 Days” for a record $69 million. More and more people like artists, sports figures and even scientists have moved to capitalize on the phenomenon.

This “was arguably the year in which NFTs really took off and we've since seen highs and lows,” Mintable Chief Executive Officer Zach Burks said in an email interview. “While there are fewer headline-grabbing sales like Beeple's record-breaking $69 million Christie's auction, the demand for NFTs is still growing. For us, that means seeing healthy transaction volumes on our platform and even more interest from a broader range of creators -- be it artists, brands, or athletes.”