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More Details on the Zora Acquisition , News, Deals, Jobs + More!
Nia Johnson
May 13, 2024
More Details on the Zora and mint.fun and What it Means for Web3 Deals
More details on the Zora and mint.fun acquisition. According to SEC filings, the NYC-based NFT social media platform and protocol transferred approximately $2.62 million worth of stock to complete the mint.fun transaction earlier this month.
Deal Activity in Web3
The filing is dated about a week before Zora announced their acquisition of NFT aggregator mint.fun, on Tuesday last week. This is in line with recent trends in the space, as M&A and VC activity in crypto was up in Q1 2024, suggesting increased investor confidence in the wake of the 2023 slump.
M&A deals, in particular, have focused on consolidating projects with similar missions. Examples include web3 publisher Paragraph purchasing rival Mirror in early May and web3 lifestyle and media company Yuga Labs acquiring competitor PROOF.
This is Great for Investors
This is good for investors for a multitude of reasons: 1) the investors of the target company get equity in a company they otherwise couldn’t afford, provided that stock is a part of the deal 2) the acquiring company gets more valuable when the target is fully integrated into the company, provided there are synergies with the target 3) resources otherwise spent on beating competitors are aligned into one company, increasing capital efficiency.
In the case of Zora and mint.fun (and Paragraph and Mirror, too), the deal is even sweeter for Variant Fund, as they are the one fund with both the acquirer and the target company in their portfolio. In essence, Variant gets to double down on a company worth $600 million without directly putting out additional money (that has the potential to become even more valuable - more on that). Also, if the target’s team goes on to do something else post-acquisition, there is an opportunity for portfolio diversification without having to vet a completely new team.
My Take
Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if Zora raises their Series D soon, if not already. It’s been two years since their Series C, and the funding environment for web3 startups is taking a positive turn. Most importantly, Zora looks to be a strong business - they have a D30 retention of 73.8%, according to co-founder Dee Goens in TechCrunch’s Chain Reaction podcast. Around the time of that episode, they have about 500k transacting users since February; they also have $300 million in secondary sales, 4 million NFTs minted, and 1 million unique collectors since founding.
Overall, the Zora and mint.fun acquisition is an example of Web3's anti-zero-sum culture. Collaborative acquisitions will continue to be a trend in web3, as investors are incentivized to consolidate their portfolios and founding teams on both sides of the deal are offered a clearer path to success - a welcome thing in this high-interest rate environment. Instead of the Uber vs. Lyft business wars of yesteryear, the overlap between companies is settled the civilized way—between founders and their investors, and everyone walks away happy. That’s the true WAGMI spirit!
5/13/2024 12:20pm - Correction: An earlier version of this article says that mint.fun was a Union Square Ventures portfolio company - it is not. Apologies for the mistake
5/13/2024 1:26pm - Correction: An earlier version of this article says that Zora raised a small round - that is not true. Dee Goens confirms via Twitter DM that the Reg D filing is share transfer needed to execute the mint.fun acquisition.
Song of the Week
News
The new iPad is here. Too bad the ad sucks.
ChatGPT might be coming to your iPhone near you. Apple and Open AI are finalizing a deal to integrate ChatGPT on mobile devices.
In other Apple-related news, employees of their Maryland retail locations have voted to unionize.
VC winter is coming, but only for emerging funds. What funds will survive the wreckage? We will see soon.
On the flip side, Onchain Summer is here. Base is kicking off the season-long art, music, and gaming event with an online hackathon starting June 3rd.
TikTok is suing the government on the grounds of free speech.
You can now personalize your Bluesky feed.
SBF’s victims are getting their lick back, plus interest.
Speaking of high-profile crypto founders, CZ is going to jail for 4 months for “[failing] to register as a money services business” and maintain an anti-money laundering program.
Deals
Passes, an LA-based content creation platform, raised $17.57mm in early-stage funding from undisclosed investors. Read the SEC filing here.
OPENREC, a Toyko-based live-streaming platform, raised $15.52mm in early-stage funding from Vector, GENDA Capital, and Nomura SPARX investments. Additional investors include Accord Ventures, Pegasus Tech Ventures, and Sega Sammy Holdings. Read more from Nomura Holdings.
Iconic Arts, a California-based transmedia and entertainment agency, raised a $3.1mm Seed round from Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment, will.i.am, and JP Morgan SBIC. Read more at Venture Beat.
Kino, an LA-based interactive streaming service, raised a $2.35mm pre-seed extension round led by ARK Venture Fund. Additional investors include Slow Ventures, Sequoia, and Sunset Capital. Read more at CityBiz.
Agridex, a London-based agricultural blockchain marketplace, raised $5mm in early-stage funding led by Endeavor Ventures. Additional investors include African Corps and Oldenburg Ventures. Read more at CoinDesk.
Jamango!, a Dublin-based no-code game design platform, raised a $2.5mm Seed round led by Delta Partners and Elkstone Partners. Read more at VentureBeat.
Over the Hand, a Seoul-based AR/VR company raised a $2.19mm Series A round from Korea Investment Partners and L&S Venture Capital. Read more at WowTale.
GigPig, a UK-based artist management and booking platform, raised a $1.62mm Seed round led by Haatch and Notion Captial. Read more at IQ Magazine.
Zeal, a London-based crypto wallet, raised $2 mm in early-stage funding from Gnosis Chain. Read more at CoinDesk.
Hexis, a London-based fitness and nutrition platform, raised a $2mm Seed round from Apex Capital and Sport Republic. Read more at Tech.eu.
ZKM, an SF-based Ethereum scaling platform, raised $5mm Seed round led by OKX Ventures. Additional investors include Crypto.com, Amber Group, and Metis. Read more at Accesswire.
GoMining, a BVI-based Bitcoin mining platform, raised a $3mm later-stage funding round led by Bitscale Capital. Read more at Bitcoin.com.
New Internet City on May 16th
Live in NYC? Love consumer tech? Love culture? Come join us for the second installment of New Internet City, now sponsored by IYK and POAP! We’re bringing together technologists and creatives in the hope that both groups can work together to build out the consumer tech community in NYC! RSVP here.
PS: I’m looking for sponsors for May’s meetup. If you're interested, please email me at [email protected] for more details.
Jobs
Zora is hiring for multiple roles (Remote):
Kiosk is hiring for multiple roles (NYC):
POSH is hiring a Community Program Manager (NYC)
Party Favors
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Watch Bee & Puppycat on Netflix right now.