NPC Labs, a startup co-founded by former Coinbase employees, has secured $18 million in funding led by Pantera Capital to enhance gaming on the Base network.
Points
- NPC Labs raised $18 million in a seed round led by Pantera Capital.
- The funding will be used to develop the B3.fun gaming scaling ecosystem on the Base network.
- NPC Labs aims to simplify and enhance the on-chain gaming experience.
- The startup was co-founded by former Coinbase employees with expertise in gaming and blockchain technology.
- The B3.fun platform will provide high transaction speeds, near gasless transactions, and support for EVM-compatible blockchains.
NPC Labs, an infrastructure startup co-founded by three former Coinbase employees, has successfully raised $21 million in pre-seed and seed funding rounds to develop its gaming scaling ecosystem, B3.fun, on the Base network. Pantera Capital led the latest seed round worth $18 million, with contributions from Makers Fund, Hashed, Collab+Currency, Sfermion, Mirana Ventures, Bitscale Capital, and Mantle EcoFund.
Founders and Vision
Founded in April 2024 by Daryl Xu, Viktoriya Hying, and Sean Geng, NPC Labs aims to revolutionize the on-chain gaming experience. Xu, the CEO, previously led the gaming and onramp team at Coinbase’s Layer 2 project Base. Hying, the COO, was the NFT and creator lead at Base, while Geng, the CTO, served as an engineering manager at Coinbase.
NPC Labs’ vision for B3.fun is to create a user-friendly, scalable gaming ecosystem that simplifies the transition to on-chain gaming. Xu emphasized that their experience at Base highlighted the potential for engaging and utility-driven gaming beyond speculation. B3.fun aims to leverage this trend to grow the gaming ecosystem exponentially and provide a seamless, enjoyable experience for users.
B3.fun Gaming Ecosystem
The B3.fun platform, built on the Base network, is designed to offer a microservices-like Layer 3 ecosystem. This setup allows for high transactions per second, near gasless transactions, and eliminates the need for bridging or switching networks through chain abstraction technology in partnership with ChainSafe.
Xu explained that B3.fun will serve as a comprehensive solution for game developers, providing infrastructure and support for marketing and distribution. The platform aims to simplify the development process, allowing developers to focus on creating engaging games while handling the technical complexities.
Future Prospects and Launch
Currently in the testnet phase, B3.fun supports games built on Ethereum, Base, and other Ethereum Virtual Machine （EVM）-compatible blockchains. The platform plans to onboard games from other chains, such as Solana, in the future. The mainnet launch of B3.fun is scheduled for a later date, with the potential introduction of a native token to be decided by the governing foundation.
Pantera Capital’s general partner, Franklin Bi, expressed enthusiasm about partnering with NPC Labs to enhance the Base ecosystem. He highlighted the potential of B3’s infrastructure and tooling to empower developers and create exceptional on-chain gaming experiences.
NPC Labs, based in the U.S., currently employs five people and plans to expand its team to ten, hiring across engineering, marketing, and global go-to-market functions.