NFT marketplace Blur raises $11 million in seed round led by Paradigm

Blur, a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace geared toward professional traders, said Monday that it has raised $11 million in new seed funding.

The round was led by crypto VC firm Paradigm, along with participation from firms and angels such as eGirl Capital, 0xMaki and LedgerStatus, among others.

“Current NFT marketplaces prioritize the retail experience, but they neglect the growing needs of pro traders,” the startup wrote in its blog post announcing the funding round’s completion. “Infrastructure has failed to keep up as monthly trading volumes hit billions, and web2 business models hold the space back with poorly aligned incentives. Our mission is to solve these problems and move the NFT space toward becoming institutional grade while increasing decentralization.”

Get Your Crypto Daily Brief

Delivered daily, straight to your inbox.

“We’re building privately for now, but we’ll share more info on how to get early access soon,” the team went on to note. 

As covered by The Block, a number of NFT projects and startups have raised funding in recent months.

Earlier this month, Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs announced a $450 million funding round led by a16z. Weeks prior, Immutable, which is focused on layer-2 tech for NFTs, raised $200 million.