Google, the search engine giant, has partnered with Dapper Labs to help support the development of new Web 3 products and services, including the wildly popular nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace.
It has been reported that as part of the deal, Google Cloud will serve as a network operator for Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain, the scalable infrastructure that powers an entire ecosystem of NFTs, games, and apps.
Janet Kennedy, the Vice President of Google Cloud North America, said that the multi-year partnership will help Dapper expand its operations through “scalable, secure infrastructure” provided by Google.
However, Google has also made it easier for Flow developers to integrate with its software, which gives them an added incentive to choose Google Cloud over competitors such as Amazon Web Services.
Roham Gharegozlou, the CEO of Dapper Labs, confirmed the partnership early Tuesday by welcoming Google to the Flow blockchain.
The report said that Dapper’s Flow blockchain supports some of the most popular NFT collections on the market, including NBA Top Shot and CryptoKitties. By February of this year, NBA Top Shot had generated $230 million in sales. That figure has nearly tripled to $680 million.
Likewise, recognizing the long-term potential of NFTs, NBA legends Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant joined other investors in backing Dapper’s $305 million funding round earlier this year. At the time, the company had a valuation of $2.6 billion. In less than a year, NFTs have grown from a small and obscure corner of the crypto industry to a multi-billion-dollar market. August was a record-breaking month for the NFT market, with 30-day sales eclipsing $2 billion.
Thus, on the business side, several NFT-focused companies have closed significant funding rounds this year. As reported, NFT company Recur recently closed a $50 million Series A backed by billionaire Steve Cohen’s family office, bringing its total valuation to $333 million.
Source: Cointelegraph