Devin Finzer

Devin Finzer was born in 1990; his mother is a physician while his father works as a software engineer.{{Cite web|title=Show of 12-18-2021 {{!}} Techtalk, Profiles in IT: Devin Finzer|url=http://techtalk.stratford.edu/2021/12/18/show-of-12-18-2021/|access-date=2022-01-06|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106020516/http://techtalk.stratford.edu/2021/12/18/show-of-12-18-2021/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|last=Kauflin|first=Jeff|title=What Every Crypto Buyer Should Know About OpenSea, The King Of The NFT Market|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2021/11/23/what-every-crypto-buyer-should-know-about-opensea-the-king-of-the-nft-market/|access-date=2022-01-22|website=Forbes|language=en}} Finzer grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Miramonte High School in Orinda, California.{{Cite web|date=2009-08-28|title=Miramonte grads leave behind climate change lessons|url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2009/08/28/miramonte-grads-leave-behind-climate-change-lessons/|access-date=2022-01-07|website=East Bay Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=California Climate Champions: Project Carpool {{!}} Climate Watch {{!}} KQED Science|date=17 July 2009 |url=https://ww2.kqed.org/climatewatch/2009/07/17/california-climate-champions-project-carpool/|access-date=2022-01-07|language=en-US}}

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.{{Cite web|title=New course tool links to Facebook|url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2011/10/new-course-tool-links-to-facebook|access-date=2022-01-06|website=The Brown Daily Herald|language=en-US}} Just two weeks after the site launched, 20% of undergraduates had registered.{{Cite web|title=CourseKick revamps post-registration|url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2011/11/coursekick-revamps-post-registration|access-date=2022-01-06|website=The Brown Daily Herald|language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web|title=A Crypto World|url=https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2021-08-19/a-crypto-world|access-date=2022-01-06|website=www.brownalumnimagazine.com|language=en}}

Finzer co-founded two tech start-ups, including Claimdog, a personal finance app acquired by Credit Karma for an undisclosed amount. 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.

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.{{cite web|last1=Matney|first1=Lucas|date=20 July 2021|title=NFT market OpenSea hits $1.5 billion valuation|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/20/nft-market-opensea-hits-1-5-billion-valuation/|access-date=29 November 2021|website=TechCrunch}} In July 2021, Finzer was listed 19th on Forbes "NFTy 50" list of most influential individuals in the non-fungible token scene.{{Cite web|title=Devin Finzer {{!}} Fortune NFTy 50|url=https://fortune.com/nfty-50/2021/devin-finzer/|access-date=2022-01-10|website=Fortune|language=en}}

In January 2022, OpenSea raised $300 million in new series C funding, propelling the company's valuation to $13.3 billion.{{Cite news|last=Isaac|first=Mike|date=2022-01-05|title=OpenSea valued at $13.3 billion in new round of venture funding.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/04/business/opensea-13-billion-valuation-venture-funding.html|access-date=2022-01-06|issn=0362-4331}} 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.{{Cite web|last=Haverstock|first=Eliza|title=The First NFT Billionaires: OpenSea Founders Each Worth Billions After New Fundraising|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizahaverstock/2022/01/05/nft-billionaires-opensea-founders-each-worth-billions-following-latest-funding-round/|access-date=2022-01-06|website=Forbes|language=en}} He remained CEO of OpenSea in October 2024.{{cite news |last1=Dales |first1=Brady |title=OpenSea aims win NFT market by bringing more people in |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/01/22/nft-opensea-market-blur |access-date=October 15, 2024 |work=Axios |date=January 22, 2024 }}

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