Stephanie Douse 
NFT platforms like Genies that incorporate Web3 and the metaverse continue to attract significant venture capital investments.
Genies, a nonfungible token (NFT) startup, has raised $150 million in Series C funding at a $1 billion valuation, making it the latest crypto-focused platform to achieve “unicorn” status.
Silver Lake, a California-based private equity firm with $88 billion in assets as of 2021, led the funding round, with existing investors Tamarack Global, BOND, and NEA also participating. Genies stated that the funds will be used to increase internal capacity in its engineering department as well as to invest in new technologies.
Genies is an avatar technology company that was founded in 2017 to target social media and messaging platforms. It is now attempting to capitalize on the metaverse, a catch-all term for companies seeking to bridge the physical and virtual worlds. Users can use the platform to create avatars that can be used in virtual worlds. Its NFT marketplace, dubbed “The Warehouse,” was created in collaboration with Dapper Labs.
Through official partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, Genies claims to have captured a 99 percent market share for celebrity avatars.
While NFT sales have slowed significantly since their peak in September, metaverse projects appear to be reviving the industry. According to data from the analytics firm Nansen, the NFT market’s metaverse segment is growing rapidly despite its overly speculative nature. Nansen categorizes metaverse plays as land, real estate NFTs, avatars, and utility NFTs.
According to Nansen, despite extreme volatility, the NFT market is growing faster than the broader cryptocurrency market.