NFL star Tom Brady's NFT platform raises $170 million from Andreessen Horowitz and Silicon Valley investors
AP Photo/Rich Schultz
- Autograph, the NFT platform by NFL star Tom Brady, raised $170 million from Silicon Valley firms.
- Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, and a16z alum Katie Haun contributed to the funding round.
- Brady has sold NFT collections of his own and invested in crypto exchange FTX.
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Tom Brady's NFT platform Autograph raised $170 million in a funding round led by Silicon Valley investors Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins.
Autograph, which launched in July, sells digital collectibles from celebrities and sports icons like Brady. In a Wednesday press release, the company said its latest funding round also included investments from Nicole Quinn, a partner at Lightspeed, as well as Katie Haun's new crypto venture capital firm.
Haun previously led a major crypto fund at Andreessen Horowitz — a top venture capital firm in Silicon Valley that's also known as a16z — before announcing her departure in December to build a fund of her own. She will now join the board at Autograph along with a16z partners Arianna Simpson and Chris Dixon, and Kleiner Perkins partner Ilya Fushman.
In a tweet, Dixon said, "web3 isn't just a tech movement. It's a cultural one. That's why I'm excited to announce we're co-leading a Series B investment in @TomBrady's @Autograph."
Web3 has been dubbed the next iteration of the internet that would run on the blockchain, the same technology that powers cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens. NFTs, which are digital collectibles tied to the blockchain, have boomed in popularity in the last year. In 2021, the market swelled to $41 billion, one estimate found.
With the latest funding round, Autograph said it plans to "continue to scale its NFT technology with the world's most iconic sports and entertainment partners, bringing the power and possibilities created by Web3 to the mainstream."
An NFL legend, Brady now has been making his mark in the crypto world. Last year, he invested in FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange run by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. On top of that, his first-ever NFT collection sold out within minutes, and he later launched another set focused on his early professional football career.
In July, Brady announced partnerships with DraftKings, which would sell all the sports-related content on Autograph, and with Lionsgate, which would sell the entertainment collectibles. Autograph has partnered with athletes including gymnast Simone Biles, tennis player Naomi Osaka, golfer Tiger Woods, and musician The Weeknd.