- Loot Labs has raised $6 million in a round led by Bitkraft Ventures
- The Boxed.GG creator has plans to expand digitally
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Boxed.GG creator Loot Labs has raised $6 million in a seed funding round, bringing total investment to date to $7.5 million.
The firm already has hundreds of thousands of registered users in Boxed.GG, a framework built around physical trading card games. It aims to expand its collectables platform digitally and is gearing up to launch a beta for Counter-Strike 2 skins later this month.
The seed round was led by Bitkraft Ventures, with further participation from Sfermion, Fabric Ventures and Everyrealm.
Broadening realms
Loot Labs established Boxed.GG in 2022 as a place for gamers and collectors to engage in their hobbies in a communal space, starting off as a hub for Pokémon cards, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Magic: The Gathering, amongst other games.
This led to an initial $1.5 million investment in a pre-seed round in 2023, also spearheaded by Bitkraft Ventures.
Now, Loot Labs has an international team across the US, UK, Netherlands, Canada and South Africa. Its leadership team comprises of veterans with credits including Microsoft, Twitch, 2K, NASA, Boeing and LucasArts.
More than 15 million “boxes” have been opened by Boxed.GG users across its available collectable categories, now set to broaden into the digital market. By going digital, Loot Labs hopes to benefit players and publishers alike in distributing game-related goods through its “one-of-a-kind marketplace”.
“The resounding support of Bitkraft Ventures confirms our mission: we are filling a valuable role in expanding and securing the collectables market with a trusted platform,” said Loot Labs founder and CEO Milan Harris.
“The current black market of virtual trade leaves money on the table for video game developers and exposes consumers to significant security risks.
“We envision a future where studios can tap into the digital collectables market, allowing their teams to benefit from secondary transactions while giving their fans a safe environment to freely collect and trade items in their favourite games.”
Physical and digital
Harris also took to LinkedIn to discuss the deal, sharing: “I started Loot Labs a couple years ago with two of my closest friends, Jeremy R. and Matthew Genova. We started the company with a lofty goal: make a hub for people like us.
“For people who buy cardboard and pixels in video games for ridiculous price tags because we have a love for our nerdy hobbies and the communities built around them. For people to share the joy of opening a Charizard, a Sol Ring, or a CS knife.
“We have come a long way in the last couple years, but we are just getting started.”
Bitkraft Ventures partner Carlos Pereira commented: “We love the collectables space and believe in the markets around them. Unfortunately, both physical and digital markets are often ripe with fraud and other issues that get in the way of growing these economies.
“We’ve been partners with the Loot Labs team since their pre-seed round and have seen their hustle and tech-forward approach deliver strong success already in physical cards.
“As investors who are passionate about the convergence of digital and physical worlds, we couldn’t miss the chance to double down on our partnership as Loot Labs continues to grow and evolve into new markets.”
