Autograph, the NFT platform co-founded by NFL quarterback Tom Brady, has acquired $170 million in a Series B fundraising round headed by Silicon Valley investors Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins.
The July-launched business also secured funding from Lightspeed Venture partner Nicole Quinn and Katie Haun’s new firm. Brady has been one of the most prominent cryptocurrency enthusiasts in sports and entertainment, sporting even “laser eyes” on his Twitter profile picture. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback has also invested in prominent cryptocurrency exchange FTX, whose creator Sam Bankman-Fried also serves on Autograph’s board of directors.
They join an impressive board that includes Brady, Apple’s Eddy Cue, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, and musician Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd.
What is ‘Autograph’? And what are the big names it’s collaborated with yet?
Autograph is simply a middleman for star sportsmen and entertainers trying to have a personal footprint in the immensely loud NFT realm. Since the NFT market exploded in popularity early last year, celebrity NFT drops have been a good mix. While some have entered the arena with smart projects that repay their supporters with gains, there has also been a slew of laughable cash grabs.
Brady, Tiger Woods, Simone Biles, Derek Jeter, Naomi Osaka, Usain Bolt, Wayne Gretzky, and Tony Hawk are among Autograph’s early collaborators.
Autograph has been largely distributing its NFTs using the Polygon blockchain, which utilises Ethereum’s architecture but consumes substantially less energy every transaction.
Autograph has done drops with The Weeknd, Slam Magazine, and officially-licensed NFTs for the horror series Saw outside of sports.