On September 5, Non-fungible token (NFT) tech start-up Dust Labs raised a $7M funding round, from an array of venture capital firms, amid the hype over the rollout for its Solana-based y00ts NFT minting. 

The Investors who participated in the round include Solana Ventures & FTX Ventures, as well as major Solana NFT marketplace Magic Eden, Solana NFT protocol maker Metaplex, and companies like Foundation Capital and Jump. 

On September 6, Dust Labs announced via Twitter, “we have raised a strategic round of $7M to build out the $DUST ecosystem.” 

Solana NFT project y00ts been off to a hot start since Monday night, topping secondary markets as the NFTs sell for a significant premium over the mint price.  

The startup is the result of the success of DeGods, presently the most valuable NFT profile picture (PFP) project on the Solana blockchain. It was the creator of DeGods, who founded the Web3 startup (Frank), though it has its own CEO (Kevin) and is centered around “building software that helps NFT communities bring more value to their holders,” per the website. 

It is evident that Dust Labs a “tech company spun off” from the DeGods project, rather than a parent company in the vein of Yuga Labs and the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Dust Labs is credited as having built the y00ts minting website, for instance. 

Dust Labs’ DUST utility token was initially launched as a reward for DeGods holders and is the only token that purchasers can use to mint a y00ts NFT in the primary sale. The token will also be accepted by Magic Eden as it incorporates Solana-based tokens from different NFT projects.