GigLabs, a blockchain company that empowers brands such as CNN and Turner Sports to bring their IP to life through non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, announced a $4.5 million seed round led by Dapper Labs and Panoramic Ventures. Other investors participating in the round include Collab+Currency, Red Beard Ventures, Eterna Capital, Alumni Venture Group, Gaingels, and Amino Capital. The caliber and variety of investors participating in this round demonstrates broad support for GigLabs to be the leading provider of infrastructure for brands, creators and collectors to build memorable experiences through NFTs.

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“It’s awesome to see the world’s leading brands building on Flow and supercharging their connection to consumers.”

“At GigLabs, we firmly believe that every brand will have an NFT strategy in the future,” said Douglas Dimola, CEO and co-founder of GigLabs. “This funding enables us to expand the talent of our team to continue expanding our offerings to meet current and future demand, while also working with the best and brightest partners to continue to push this new innovation forward.”

NFTs have increased in popularity with the market reaching billions in trading and sales volume. As NFTs continue to rapidly see mainstream adoption, with major sports leagues, media outlets and prestige auction houses participating in projects, brands are increasingly seeking to get involved—but they need reliable partners to navigate the significant technical complexities when integrating NFT projects into enterprise level organizations. GigLabs’ technology is championed by some of the biggest names in entertainment, giving customers access to emergent Web3 innovations. GigLabs’ solutions enable brands and creators to launch new NFT projects, with customizable branded storefronts and marketplaces, as well as metaverse experiences for their communities. In addition, GigLabs has pioneered transferring NFTs to fans while at live events, all through a QR code.

GigLabs’ platform allows enterprise brands to build lasting relationships with consumers and create customized and personalized experiences through NFTs that live on the Flow blockchain. Major brand partners supported by the GigLabs platform include CNN, Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, Speedway Motorsports’ RaceDay NFT—the first-ever NASCAR-related NFT, University of Miami’s Canes Vault, Athletes Unlimited and others. This funding round will allow the company to build out its team and scale to accelerate customer growth.

“GigLabs continues to impress through the team’s ability to develop the technology solutions needed for any brand to build a powerful NFT experience,” said Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs. “It’s awesome to see the world’s leading brands building on Flow and supercharging their connection to consumers.”

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“Sometimes the magic is making it simple to do something complex. GigLabs takes a transformative technology and makes it accessible to companies, organizations and brands of all sizes,” said Paul Judge, Managing Partner of Panoramic Ventures. “We believe in the power of NFTs to combine content, culture, and community and we’re enthusiastic to back GigLabs on this journey.”

GigLabs has built multiple solutions to not only bring brands into the world of NFTs but also to provide onramps into the much broader metaverse. These include NFT Bridge, which is the company’s whitelabeled solution for brands and creators to launch customizable NFT marketplaces directly on their own websites. The platform also includes a solution that allows for frictionless claiming of NFTs via a QR code while attending live events, a novel way to blend fandom in the physical and virtual worlds. GigLabs has also built RareRooms, a 3D/VR enabled metaverse that allows collectors to curate and showcase their NFTs as well as allow brands to have amazing virtual storefronts and customizable spaces that allow their fans to truly experience their NFTs. Nearly 10,000 RareRooms have been created to display unique, curated sets of NFTs by collectors.