Metaverse real estate consists of parcels of lands in virtual worlds that are programmable, allowing people to play games, socialize, attend virtual meetings, and even sell NFTs. Similar to tangible real estate, these digital destinations can be developed, sold, or even leased out to others, providing revenue generation opportunities. The major virtual worlds that contain the bulk of these virtual real estate assets are Decentraland, Sandbox, Somnium Space, and Cryptovoxels. Parcel is an NFT marketplace for users to transact in, learn about, and build plans for virtual real estate. While OpenSea focuses on all types of NFTs, Parcel focuses exclusively on virtual real estate and its users by providing visual, data-rich mapping for every listing as well as appraisals based on the company’s rich trove of market intelligence and data. There’s also a creator network, Creatorverse, for virtual landowners to develop their holdings by working with virtual architects and other experts in virtual asset development. Parcel currently has over 100K active listings and is free to use with users just responsible for gas fees (landholders that are posting new listings are getting their gas fees refunded for a limited time), which have been optimized by the company’s smart contracting proprietary tech.
AlleyWatch caught up with Parcel Cofounder and CEO Noah Gaynor to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Seed round – $4M raised.
Investors include Framework Ventures (lead), Fifth Wall, Blizzard Fund (Avalanche), AVIV Group (Axel Springer), InterVest, Stake Capital Group, AppWorks, Sky9 Capital, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Serafund, Contents Technologies, H.E.N.R.Y Collective, and Fedora Capital.
Angel investors include Aaron Wong (SoftBank), Sebastien Borget (The Sandbox), Santiago Santos, Kieran Warwick (Illuvium), and more.
Tell us about the product or service that Parcel offers.
Parcel is setting out to provide solutions for users at every stage of their journey in the metaverse.
We launched in July 2021 as the first comprehensive NFT marketplace tailored exclusively for virtual real estate.
Our team quickly learned that land is only as valuable as what’s built on top of it – so we started developing a comprehensive creative directory known as Creatorverse, where landowners will be able to easily discover and employ virtual architects and service providers by browsing their portfolio of digital work.
Finally, we’ve set out to satisfy a widespread thirst for knowledge by creating Learn, an educational platform that helps seamlessly onboard new users and advance proficiency for the Web3 community.
What inspired the start of Parcel?
Our Cofounder and Chief Product Officer, Ian Mukherjee, was frustrated with the UX for virtual real estate users. It was difficult to get a full picture of metaverse land listings given 1) fragmentation across marketplaces; 2) OpenSea, the most popular NFT marketplace, not offering a map view; and 3) seemingly random valuations. Out of an industry that was scattered and lacked transparency, the Parcel Marketplace was born.
How is Parcel different?
Parcel is the first comprehensive marketplace tailored exclusively for the virtual real estate economy. We offer interactive, data-rich visual maps to help users more seamlessly navigate the virtual real estate ecosystem.
Parcel also provides real-time price appraisals for open listings and utilizes a proprietary gas-efficient smart contract to facilitate sales, enabling users to buy and list land for half the cost of gas fees found on existing NFT marketplaces.
What market does Parcel target and how big is it?
Parcel is targeting a virtual real estate market that generated more than $500 million in sales in 2021 and has already surpassed $1 billion in sales during the first half of 2022.
What’s your business model?
We will eventually take a fee on transactions conducted on the marketplace. Today our products are entirely free for users.
What are your post-COVID office plans??
Parcel is a fully remote employer. Roughly one-third of our team is based in New York City, which enables us to collaborate in coworking spaces when we need to be in person. The remainder of our team is located in different cities around the world, which brings a truly global perspective to our work.
What was the funding process like?
It’s a journey and can sometimes feel like a rollercoaster. It’s hard to predict when and where you’ll end up when you first start. And I’d say it almost always takes longer than you predict. On the plus side, you meet a lot of smart, interesting people along the way and learn a ton in the process.
One takeaway I’ve learned is to take every meeting, because your best leads come from the most unlikely places, including other investors who pass on the round.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
We were only about half done with the round when the markets and sentiment began shifting to the downside. We were fortunate to find the right investors and partners to join us, but the environment certainly has become tougher compared to the last couple of years.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
The market opportunity – virtual real estate generated more than $500 million in sales in 2021 and has already surpassed $1 billion in sales during the first half of 2022.
Additionally, the experience and vision of our team. We are an energetic and focused group, pulling from prior experience working at some of the top global tech companies.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Currently, our Marketplace aggregates real estate listings across several of the largest virtual worlds on the Ethereum blockchain. Multi-chain support on Avalanche and Polygon is planned for later this year.
We will also continue developing our comprehensive creative directory, known as Creatorverse, to encourage the development of diverse projects and services across virtual worlds. Through Creatorverse, landowners will be able to easily discover and employ virtual architects and service providers by browsing their portfolio of digital work.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Try to cut costs and extend runway however you can heading into these uncertain economic times. If you’re having trouble raising capital, you can consider some alternatives to regular VC such as equity crowdfunding platforms, AngelList, venture DAOs, and even venture debt.
Try to cut costs and extend runway however you can heading into these uncertain economic times. If you’re having trouble raising capital, you can consider some alternatives to regular VC such as equity crowdfunding platforms, AngelList, venture DAOs, and even venture debt.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We have hired a staff of 15 with experience ranging from Apple and Snap to Nike. Now, our team is hyperfocused on building and refining our product suite. In addition to further developing Creatorverse and expanding Marketplace listings to virtual worlds beyond the Ethereum ecosystem, we’ll also engage global brands to help develop their presence in the metaverse.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC?
Two of my favorite outdoor dining spots happen to be Mediterranean food. Ilili in Flatiron always impresses and has very comfortable outdoor space. For something more casual, the original Taïm in the West Village has a couple of wooden benches to sit and enjoy your falafel sandwich.
