NFT startup Candy Digital raised $38.5 million at the start of this year

NFT collectibles startup Candy Digital raised $38.5 million from investors with the first sale occurring on Jan. 3.  A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory filing shows that the startup had been seeking to raise a total of $68 million with $29.7 million still to be sold to investors.

A total of 14 investors have already participated in this offering, according to the filing.

At the start of the year, the startup closed a Series A1 funding round led by Galaxy Digital and ConsenSys. The raise enabled the company to buy sports merchandising platform Fanatics’ out of its majority stake. The financial terms of the Series A1 raise were not disclosed.

Candy Digital did not respond to request for comment on the raise. It’s unclear if the filing is linked to the Series A1 or is for a separate fundraising effort.

What is Candy Digital?

The startup is a crypto unicorn having raised a $100 million Series A round at $1.5 billion valuation in Oct. 2021. Insight Partners and Softbank Vision Fund co-led the Series A round. Other investors in the startup have included ConsenSys, 10T Holdings, Galaxy Digital and NFL star Peyton Manning.

Founded in the summer of 2021, Candy Digital is company that develops and designs digital collectibles. It has partnered with Major League Baseball, WWE and Getty Images among others for creating premium collectibles. It also runs a platform where collectors can buy and trade the collectibles.

Candy Digital was originally formed by Michael Rubin, CEO of Fanatics; Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital and Gary Vaynerchuk, who is a serial crypto investor.

Late last year, Candy Digital cut a significant number of jobs citing challenging market conditions.

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