About Candy
Candy is a Retail company based in New York (United States) founded in 2021 by Mathew Laibowitz, Scott Lawin, and Daniel Heyman, and was acquired by Futureverse in April 2025. Digital collectibles and exclusive experiences are traded on the platform. It operates in the Retail and Financial Services sectors. Candy has raised $100 million across 1 funding round from investors including Creative Artists Agency, Com2uS and Futureverse. The company has 39 employees. Candy was last valued at $1.5 billion in October 2021. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Scott Lawin. Its website candy.io draws about 40 thousand monthly visits. Its focus areas include FinTech, Non Fungible Tokens, Collectibles and Sports. Its competitors include Collectable, Chalk Line and Artist Originals; 2 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Candy was established in 2021 in New York, United States, as a digital collectibles platform. A marketplace is provided for users to buy, sell, and trade digital items, including sports and entertainment memorabilia. Operations emphasize fan engagement through community features. The sector involves blockchain-based assets for collectors, with services centered on secure transactions and exclusive content access.
- Headquarters New York, United States
- Employees 39
- Founders Mathew Laibowitz, Scott Lawin, Daniel Heyman
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsRetailFinancial Services
- Website category Finance · Investing
- Email••••••••
- Website candy.io
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook
- Acquired by Futureverse (Apr 2025)
- Total Equity Funding$100M (USD)
in 1 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$100M (USD), Series A
Oct 2021
- InvestorsCreative Artists Agency
& 10 more
- Employee Count39
- Acquired byFutureverse
(Apr 2025)
Funding Insights of Candy
Candy has successfully raised a total of $100M through 1 strategic funding round. The most recent funding activity was a Series A round of $100 million completed in October 2021. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $100M
- Total Rounds 1
- Last Round Series A — $100M
- First Round $100M
(Oct 2021)
- Investors Count 11
All 1 funding rounds of Candy with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2021 | $100M | Series A | – | Insight Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund |
| Date | Valuation | Stage |
|---|
Full valuation and stage history of Candy
Every valuation point, the growth-stage changes (minicorn, soonicorn, unicorn) and the dates behind them require an active premium plan.
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Last known valuation $1.5B (Oct 2021). 11 investors in total: 10 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in Candy
Candy has secured backing from 11 investors, including venture fund, institutional, and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Creative Artists Agency, Com2uS and Futureverse.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Investment firm scaling software and technology companies from early to late stages. | insightpartners.com | |||
Venture capital investments in technology and startups. | 2016 | visionfund.com | London, United Kingdom | |
Connect Ventures is focused on investing in innovative entrepreneurs. | connectventures.com | Lutherville Timonium, United States | ||
Early-stage venture capital is provided by Will Ventures. | willventures.com | |||
Venture capital investing with a focus on diversity and inclusion in the ecosystem. | gaingels.com | |||
Venture capital investments are offered to startups by NEA. | nea.com | Menlo Park, United States | ||
Creative Artists Agency is engaged in talent representation and brand management. | 1975 | caa.com | Los Angeles, United States | |
Mobile game developer and publisher | 1998 | com2us.com | Seoul, South Korea | |
AI-enabled metaverse platform | 2022 | futureverse.com | Los Angeles, United States |
Investor details for Candy
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
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People of Candy
12 people are tracked at Candy (9 in leadership, 3 in team); the tracked headcount is 39.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Mathew Laibowitz | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Scott Lawin | Co-Founder & Co-CEO | Leadership |
Matt V | Co-CEO | Leadership |
Daniel Heyman | Founder | Leadership |
Joshua Peacock | VP, Finance | Leadership |
Matthew Novogratz | Head of Partnerships & Business Development | Leadership |
Straith Schreder | Executive Creative Director | Leadership |
Matt Vega | Head of Fraud Prevention & Risk Management | Leadership |
Janelle Pacheco Winowich | Head of Product | Leadership |
Aaron Casanova | Marketplace & Support Operations | Team |
Chris Rodman | Sports Rights Consultant | Team |
Allee Clendennen | Fraud Analyst | Team |
Complete people profiles for Candy
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Timeline of Candy
4 dated milestones of Candy across 4 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Candy is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $100.0M.
- Milestone Reaches Unicorn status.
- Exit Acquired by Futureverse.
Competitors of Candy
Candy has 3 listed competitors in our database, 2 of them funded. They include Collectable, Chalk Line and Artist Originals.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| collectable.com | 2014 | White Plains, United States | $8.11M | Online investing and community platform for sports fans | ||
| chalk-line.com | 1990 | Englewood Cliffs, United States | $2.7M | Multi-category apparel merchandise is offered via an online platform. | ||
| artistoriginals.com | 2007 | Oyster Bay, United States | Online retailer of merchandised multi-category products |
Detailed competitors of Candy
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Web traffic of Candy
The website of Candy (candy.io) receives about 39.7K visits a month and ranks #991,087 among all websites worldwide, #8,934 in Investing.
- Monthly visits39.7K
▲ 31.7% vs previous month
- Unique visitors9K
per month
- Global rank#991,087
among all websites
- Category rank#8,934
Finance · Investing
- Bounce rate50%
- Pages per visit2.0
- Average visit44 sec
- DevicesDesktop 26% · Mobile 74%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Candy. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
musicforwardfoundation.org | musicforwardfoundation.org | 100% | #10,177,969 | – | |
soulmusicsociety.co | soulmusicsociety.co | 90% | #5,173,102 | – |
Top companies in Licensed & Thematic Merchandise
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Candy (Licensed & Thematic Merchandise) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Licensed sports merchandise, collectibles, and betting platforms are provided. | 2011 | New York, New York, United States | USD 4.85 B | 14,656 | ||
Hyperlocal delivery of marijuana products and consultations are facilitated. | 2014 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 186 M | 98 | ||
Smart vending solutions are provided for offline retailers and businesses. | 2008 | Troy, United States | 334 |
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Related news about Candy
Complete news archive for Candy
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Frequently Asked Questions about Candy
Candy was founded in 2021.
Candy is headquartered in New York, United States. It is registered at New York, New York, United States.
Scott Lawin is the CEO of Candy, as recorded in our data. They have also founded this company.
Candy is a funded company, having raised a total of $100M across 1 funding round to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $100M, raised on Oct 2021.
Candy has 39 employees.
Candy was established in 2021 in New York, United States, as a digital collectibles platform. A marketplace is provided for users to buy, sell, and trade digital items, including sports and entertainment memorabilia. Operations emphasize fan engagement through community features. The sector involves blockchain-based assets for collectors, with services centered on secure transactions and exclusive content access.
Candy's top competitors include Collectable, Chalk Line and Artist Originals.
Candy has 11 investors. Key investors include Creative Artists Agency, Com2uS, Futureverse, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Insight Partners.
The valuation of Candy is $1.5B as of Oct 2021.
Yes. Candy was acquired by Futureverse in April 2025.