NFT startup Courtyard closed a $7 million seed round led by NEA, with participation from Y Combinator, OpenSea Ventures, VaynerFund, Brink's, Cherry Ventures, and others.
Courtyard is one of the projects in the Y Combinator 2022 winter accelerator program. It is said that Courtyard enables collectors to take ownership of valuable items remotely by creating a digital version of that item, based on a 3D rendering. The actual collectible will be authenticated, insured, and stored in a vault operated by Brink's.
The company is launching a marketplace for sneakers and will expand into other categories of collectibles, including luxury cars and fine art.