Morning Minute | Pudgy Penguins Raise $9M Amidst NFT Bear Market

Morning Minute | Pudgy Penguins Raise $9M Amidst NFT Bear Market

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Luca Netz and the Pudgy Penguins just announced a major $9M fundraise. Let's take a look at how they got here, what the funds will be used for, and what's next.

🐧 Pudgy Penguins' Big Raise

The NFT market is about as bearish as it's ever been right now, perhaps dating back to spring 2021.

But that didn't stop the powerhouse Pudgy Penguins team and their fearless leader Luca Netz from completing an astounding fundraise.

Yesterday the team announced a $9M raise at an undisclosed and unofficial valuation (though rumors are that it was $50M).

The round was led by 1kx and included other big names like LayerZero Labs, KuCoin and CoinGecko.

The 12 investors included in the round were handpicked by Luca after taking hundreds of calls, each picked for very strategic reasons.

So how did they get here?

History

Luca acquired the Pudgy Penguins project and its IP just over a year ago for $750,000.

At that time, the team had no money in the bank.

So they had to hustle, with an initial focus on growing trust within the community and broader NFT space.

And that approach worked, with the Pudgy Penguins rallying over 4x from bottom, holding at a 4.5 ETH floor this morning (and hitting 7.5 ETH at peak).

The secondary collections, lil Pudgy's and Rogs, have each seen their floors rally 10x+ in that same time.

Per Luca, they knew they could compete with other projects, but most others were much more capitalized, especially during the 2022 boom.

Well, now that is no longer an issue.

While he's always looked at Pudgy's as the underdog, now that Pudgy underdog has some major runway to execute.

What Now?

Luca and the Pudgy team did an enlightening Twitter spaces AMA yesterday talking about the raise, their plans and answering community questions.

Some of the biggest takeaways from that spaces:

  • On the future: They want to push the boundaries of IP in web3, become a pioneer in digital collectibles, and make the blockchain more of a back-end item as opposed to front focus
  • On hiring: Creative is a key area of focus of growth along with the tech side; Luca is excited to spend money on marketing, something they haven't done (and an area the team specializes in)
  • On the raise amount: They didn't want to raise too much, to make the team too comfortable; they want to remain "scrappy" and don't plan to inflate the team size
  • On protecting holders: If the NFTs lose (i.e. the holders), then the company will never win, thus driving value back to the NFT holders will always be top of mind
  • On what Luca is looking forward to: Getting into trenches with the community again, and getting back to "week 1 mode"; he is planning on launching a masterclass on viral marketing and an IRL takeover campaign "that no one has ever seen before" 
  • On what's launching soon: Two important tech products are coming in the next 60 days: 1) one spearheading the standard for tying NFTs to physical products and 2) Project Overpass which will aims to solve the problem of monetizing NFTs at scale via licensing

I encourage anyone interested in the Pudgy Penguins project to listen to that spaces recording, to get more insight into the future.

It was hard to listen to the passion in Luca's voice and not become bullish on the Pudgy future (price action aside).

The team certainly has very big plans.

Using Luca's words:

"Somebody has to have the NFT project that the whole world knows about and resonates with. Pudgy Penguins is that."

Time to make it happen, Luca.

🚚 What else is happening in NFTs?

Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:

  • Trading volume was over 14k ETH on Tuesday, though most leading NFTs fell were red again on the day
  • Beeple teased a goat-related airdrop coming soon for holders of his NFTs, going further to tell holders that only non-custodial wallets qualify
  • 0n1 Force released "0N1 Force Worldwide," with 3 community features including a Franchise component, a business development ambassador component and clubs
  • Gabe Leydon introduced a new creator-focused token standard called ERC721-C as a solution for enforceable and programmable royalties, with dozens of applications (big for gaming)
  • Blur added mobile bidding on Tuesday as a new feature on its mobile app, where users can now view and place bids
  • OpenSea Pro is now officially accepting $PEPE as a payment option for NFTs
  • VeeFriends announced VeeFriends Vending as a way to drive IP exansion via collectible toys in vending machines
  • NFTInspect shared that Polygon NFTs will now be integrated within their platform of social rankings

🌎 Around Crypto and Web3

A few other Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:

  • The crypto market chopped on Monday; BTC -0.2% at $27,560; ETH even at $1,840
  • $PEPE fell 3% on the day to an $800M MC, even as Gemini confirmed the token would go live soon on their platform 
  • Michael Saylor shared his thoughts on the Ordinals and NFT craze on Bitcoin, sharing that Bitcoin "crossed this chasm from what was a bearish scenario to a bullish scenario" and that in the future many applications will exist on Bitcoin
  • President Biden tweeted out anti-crypto propaganda stating that Republicans would rather create tax loopholes for wealthy crypto investors than spend money on food safety inspections, as the politicization of crypto deepens

🚀 NFT Total Volume

  • Azuki (3,523 ETH; 13.5 ETH Floor)
  • Wrapped CryptoPunks (2,380 ETH, 50 ETH)
  • MAYC (1,879 ETH, 9.85 ETH)
  • BAYC (1,213 ETH, 44.2 ETH)
  • Pudgy Penguins (664 ETH, 4.4 ETH)

📈 NFT Floor Price Increase

  • Unordinals (137%, 0.59 ETH Floor)
  • Pixelady Maker (42%, 0.18 ETH)
  • Redacted Remilios (39%, 1.42 ETH)
  • Loot (31%, 0.26 ETH)
  • Mongs NFT (29%, 0.38 ETH)

🗓 Upcoming NFT Mints and Reveals

Today will be a very interesting day in the art market.

ACK's The Broken Keys will see their 24-hour auctions end at 1 pm ET today, though potentially extended by last-minute bidding. Given the hype, expect a lot of action in that last hour.

AURAS got rescheduled from yesterday, after some technical issues, so be on the lookout for that if interested.

And then Kanpai Pandas will drop their Karate Combat app along with a $KARATE airdrop later today.

  • Memes by 6529 (11:00 a.m. ET); 0.06529 ETH
  • AURAS by Jeremy Cowart (11:00 a.m. ET); 0.044 ETH
  • The Broken Keys by ACK (1:00 p.m. ET); auctions end
  • Kanpai Pandas - Airdrop & Karate Combat App Launch (TBD)

Enjoy this write-up? Follow along with me on Twitter @tyler_did_it or reach out via email tyler.warner@luckytrader.com.

For all volume and floor price data, see Lucky Trader's Project Rankings page.

For all upcoming mints, see Lucky Trader's Project Schedule page.

Disclaimer: The author or members of the Lucky Trader staff may own NFTs discussed in this post. Furthermore, the information contained on this website or the Lucky Trader mobile application is not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as financial advice. AI may have assisted in the creation of this content.