Swoops, a fantasy basketball game, backed by Gary Vaynerchuk and owners of Boston Celtics, raises $3.5 million

An upcoming NFT fantasy basketball game called Swoops has managed to acquire $3.5 million in a recent funding round co-led by Courtside Ventures and Alpaca VC. Alongside these investors, Slow Ventures, Red Beard Ventures, Future Perfect, Jon Oringer’s Pareto Holdings, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins and entrepreneur & CEO of VaynerX, Gary Vaynerchuk also participated in the round. 

The owners of NBA teams Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are involved as well.

David Goldberg, General Partner of Alpaca VC had this to say about the upcoming NFT title: 

“This is truly a game of skill with multiple user profiles and journeys, whether that be owner, investor, or manager. The goal here is not just to be a simple game, but rather a full ecosystem for others to build upon.”

"NFT technology unlocks a new, compelling value proposition for the end user. It also unlocks a new business model for the company itself."

Built on Polygon, a free-to-play version is scheduled to launch in July this year, with NFTs going on presale in May, two months before release. Tournaments with prizes, and thus the first season for the game, are scheduled for September. 

The first ‘Season 1’ NFT collection includes 10,000 different players, with more to be added every Season. Public minting will take place in June this year. Once the whole Season 1 collection is minted and sold out, the developers will reveal what kind of players they actually are in the same month. If you remain an active member of their community on platforms such as Discord and Twitter, you could gain a spot to one or more of their private and public drops, which they’ll host in the coming months.

The NFTs represent unique basketball players which age over time, while the owners of these NFTs gain full commercial IP ownership. The play-to-earn game aims to be skill-based, with each player having various different stats such as position, passing, consistency, athleticism, defensive rebounding and more, making it important to properly strategize, creating well thought-out lineups to beat your opponent. Each player even has their own DNA profile, affecting their development. You can take on the role of an owner, general manager or coach.

Aside from purchasing and selling, NFT holders will also be able to stake the players they own, train them and draft them.