Dapper Labs is a Web3 gaming company known for NFT projects such as NBA Top Shot and Cryptokitties, as well as being the developer of the Flow blockchain.
The functionality for minting NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on Ethereum was officially launched in 2018. However, the concept had already become popularized within the crypto community the previous year, thanks to the viral success of a trading game project called Cryptokitties.
NFTs remained a relatively niche segment of the blockchain space until 2021, when several high-profile stories and projects emerged. One of those projects was NBA Top Shot, based on the concept of digital basketball trading cards. Within around a year of launch, it had reached over a million users, thanks to the NBA's huge fanbase.
Dapper Labs is the software firm behind both Cryptokitties and NBA Top Shot. As such, the company has been a key player in the development and adoption of NFTs.
History of Dapper Labs
Dapper Labs emerged as a spinout of a Canadian software development company called Axiom Zen. Axiom Zen was the original developer of Cryptokitties when it launched in 2017, a project spearheaded by its Chief Software Architect, Dieter Shirley, who was also the lead developer of the ERC-721 non-fungible token standard.
Axiom Zen subsequently launched Dapper Labs to focus on the benefits of decentralized technologies.
Dapper Labs launched in February 2018 with an initial funding round of $12.3 million led by a16z and Union Square Ventures. In November 2018, it was announced that Dapper Labs had raised $15 million from investors, including the VC subsidiaries of Google and Samsung. Around the same time, it also hired alumni of firms such as Unity, Ubisoft, and Disney.
In June 2024, Dapper Labs agreed to pay $4 million to a group of investors who sued the company in a class action lawsuit, claiming that NBA Top Shot collectibles had been sold as unregistered securities in the US. As part of the deal, the company agreed to ensure the decentralization of the Flow blockchain ecosystem it had developed, including the surrender of its remaining balance of FLOW tokens to the Flow Foundation.
As of 2024, Dapper Labs has received a total of $666 million in funding, with the largest round attracting $305 million in 2021. The company is based in Vancouver, Canada.
Roham Gharegozlou has served as CEO of Dapper Labs since its launch. Dieter Shirley was CTO of Dapper Labs until January 2024 and now serves as Chief System Architect at the Flow Foundation, an independent body set up to support the development of the Flow blockchain.
Dapper Labs projects
Dapper Labs is the developer of the Flow blockchain, as well as several NFT games and projects. Below are some of Dapper Labs' most significant initiatives as of 2024.
Cryptokitties
Cryptokitties was the first viral blockchain dapp. The project is a game allowing users to breed cartoon cats by crossing certain traits. The cats are minted as NFTs, which can then be traded.
Following its launch in 2017, there was such high demand for Cryptokitties, and by extension, Ethereum block space, that it also exposed the scalability challenges of the Ethereum blockchain for the first time.
By October 2018, there were one million Cryptokitties NFTs in circulation. The success of Cryptokitties and its impact on Ethereum subsequently led to Ethereum's scalability roadmap. However, in 2021, Dapper Labs announced that Cryptokitties would be moving to its new platform, the Flow blockchain.
Flow blockchain
Flow was developed by Dapper Labs and launched in 2020 to act as an alternative, EVM-compatible base layer to Ethereum, offering better scalability and more customization opportunities.
Flow uses a multi-node architecture where nodes are assigned different roles, which enables the distribution of work across the network. Thus, the platform achieves scalability without sharding or security compromises. It uses a native token, FLOW, for transaction fees and staking under its proof of stake consensus.
The platform also aims to be accessible to those who may not be familiar with blockchain-based applications or cryptocurrencies. A key feature for users is "walletless onboarding," which allows them to sign up for Flow apps without needing a separate crypto wallet. It also offers a developer-friendly experience with a simplified programming language and step-by-step online tutorials for writing smart contracts and minting assets.
Flow now hosts all Dapper Labs NFT apps and games, including Cryptokitties and NBA Top Shot, as well as dApps built by other developers.
NBA Top Shot
NBA Top Shot is an NFT marketplace where people trade video clips of NBA games (known as "moments") as digital collectibles similar to trading cards. Each NBA Moment has a fixed supply and is initially sold as part of a pack, although Moments are also traded individually on the Top Shot peer-to-peer marketplace.
NBA Top Shot was developed collaboratively by Dapper Labs and the NBA and launched in 2019 as one of the first major NFT projects with a household name brand association. It quickly gained significant traction among the established NBA fanbase and, as of late 2024, has accumulated 1.6 million users and $1.2 billion in total sales.
Disney Pinnacle
In December 2023, Dapper Labs announced a collaboration with Disney on a project called Disney Pinnacle, which will turn some of Disney's extensive suite of intellectual property into NFT "digital pins." As of late 2024, the project is still in waitlist mode.
Dapper Labs essentials
- Dapper Labs is a Canadian software development company founded in 2018 with roots in the initial development of blockchain-based NFTs.
- Dapper Labs is known for developing Cryptokitties, the first viral NFT project, and NBA Top Shot, one of the first blockchain projects to gain mainstream success.
- The company also developed the Flow blockchain as a scalable, more flexible alternative for NFT minting and gaming.