Igloo, Inc., the parent company of the Pudgy Penguins non-fungible token (NFT) project, has secured a strategic investment from venture capital firm Animoca Brands.
The announcement, shared in a press release on November 27, highlights that the funding will support Pudgy Penguins’ Web3 intellectual property (IP) ecosystem and Abstract, an Ethereum Layer 2 network that Igloo, Inc. contributes to.
The investment aims to strengthen community engagement through initiatives that foster collaboration and participation between Abstract and Animoca Brands’ Mocaverse. It also included contributions from Animoca Brands’ subsidiaries, The Sandbox and Animoca Brands Japan.
This development coincided with a surge in Pudgy Penguins NFT sales. According to CryptoSlam data, the collection experienced a 1,459% increase in sales volume within 24 hours of the announcement.
Pudgy Penguins, a collection of 8,888 cartoon-style penguin NFTs launched on the Ethereum blockchain in 2021, has steadily grown its influence in both the Web3 space and the physical market.
In 2023, the project expanded its reach with the release of Pudgy Toys, NFT-inspired character toys, in 2,000 Walmart stores across the United States. By February, they had entered 1,100 additional Walmart locations and later expanded to Target, GameStop, Lotte, and Australia’s Big W stores.
The toys incorporate a QR code that allows buyers to access the Pudgy World metaverse, powered by zkSync Era, a Layer 2 scaling solution. Scanning the code lets users enter the virtual space and claim unique traits for their digital Forever Pudgy characters.
In July, Pudgy Penguins also partnered with Unstoppable Domains to introduce “.pudgy” domain extensions, enabling users to enter Pudgy World with personalized domain names.
