Devin Finzer
Devin Finzer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1990 (age 33–34) |
| Education | Brown University |
| Known for | Co-founder and CEO of OpenSea |
Devin Finzer (born 1990) is an American entrepreneur and technology executive. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of OpenSea, a marketplace for non-fungible tokens.[1] In January 2022, Forbes estimated the stakes in OpenSea owned by Finzer and his co-founder Alex Atallah to be worth $2.2 billion each, making them the first two non-fungible token billionaires.[2]
Early life and education
[edit]Devin Finzer was born in 1990; his mother is a physician while his father works as a software engineer.[3][4] Finzer grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Miramonte High School in Orinda, California.[5][6]
Finzer matriculated at Brown University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Mathematics in 2013. In his junior year at Brown, Finzer worked with future Figma founder Dylan Field to create CourseKick, a socially-oriented search engine for university course registration.[7] Just two weeks after the site launched, 20% of undergraduates had registered.[8] While at Brown, Finzer interned at Wikimedia Foundation, Google Cloud Platform, and Flipboard. After graduating, he took a job at Pinterest in San Francisco as a software engineer.[3][9]
Career
[edit]Finzer co-founded two tech start-ups, including Claimdog, a personal finance app acquired by Credit Karma for an undisclosed amount.[2] At Credit Karma, Finzer became interested in blockchain technology. With Alex Atallah, Finzer developed and pitched WifiCoin, which would offer tokens in exchange for sharing access to a wireless router. The pair pitched the concept to Y Combinator and were accepted. Inspired by the release of CryptoKitties, the pair pivoted to the non-fungible token market, founding OpenSea in December 2017.[2]
After a 2018 pre-seed round by Y Combinator, OpenSea raised $2.1 million in venture capital in November 2019. In March 2021, the company raised $23 million in venture capital; four months later the company announced another investment round of $100 million making it a unicorn.[10] In January 2022, OpenSea raised $300 million in new series C funding, propelling the company's valuation to $13.3 billion.[11]
In July 2021, Finzer was listed 19th on Forbes "NFTy 50" list of most influential individuals in the non-fungible token scene.[12] He remained CEO of OpenSea in October 2024.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ "Devin Finzer | Fortune NFTy 50". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ a b c Haverstock, Eliza. "The First NFT Billionaires: OpenSea Founders Each Worth Billions After New Fundraising". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ a b "Show of 12-18-2021 | Techtalk, Profiles in IT: Devin Finzer". Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ Kauflin, Jeff. "What Every Crypto Buyer Should Know About OpenSea, The King Of The NFT Market". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
- ^ "Miramonte grads leave behind climate change lessons". East Bay Times. 2009-08-28. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
- ^ "California Climate Champions: Project Carpool | Climate Watch | KQED Science". 17 July 2009. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
- ^ "New course tool links to Facebook". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ "CourseKick revamps post-registration". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ "A Crypto World". www.brownalumnimagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ Matney, Lucas (20 July 2021). "NFT market OpenSea hits $1.5 billion valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ Isaac, Mike (2022-01-05). "OpenSea valued at $13.3 billion in new round of venture funding". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ "Devin Finzer | Fortune NFTy 50". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- ^ Dales, Brady (January 22, 2024). "OpenSea aims win NFT market by bringing more people in". Axios. Retrieved October 15, 2024.