Top NFT exchange OpenSea launches venture capital arm, following in footsteps of crypto firms FTX and Alchemy

• OpenSea announced the launch of OpenSea Ventures, which will be led by the NFT exchange's co-founder.
• Its investments will be aimed at supporting creators and technology in the emerging Web3 and NFT sectors.

Top non-fungible token marketplace OpenSea will launch an investment arm, marking its first foray into venture capital.

OpenSea Ventures will be led by OpenSea co-founder Alex Atallah and focus investments in themes like blockchain technology, social and gaming projects that support NFT distribution, and the "emergency of NFT aggregators and analytics" that support NFT marketplaces, according to a company blog post Friday.

Potential portfolio companies will have access to OpenSea's strategic partners, including Andreessen Horowitz and Standard Crypto.

The move mirrors that of Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange, FTX, which launched a $2 billion venture capital fund last month. And in December, blockchain developer Alchemy unveiled a venture capital arm of its own in support of Web3 technologies.

Along with OpenSea Ventures, the company is creating Ecosystem Grants, which is meant to "kickstart community ideas and provide ongoing financial support" to the Web3 space.

The launch of the VC and grant programs comes a month after OpenSea raised $300 million in a funding round that boosted its valuation by 800% to $13.3 billion.

OpenSea has been riding the NFT wave that exploded to $41 billion last year. The trend has continued so far this year. In January alone, over $5 billion worth of digital assets changed hands on OpenSea.