The 155th day of the crypto winter dawned sunshiny and busy for Evan Keast last week. His hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, was enveloped in a burst of late-summer warmth as he plotted the next moves for Doodles, his celebrity-beloved non-fungible token startup.
“We’ve had one of our biweekly all-hands meetings, I’ve had my coffee, and I’ve packed for Miami,” said Keast, 34. He was soon flying out to seal up a $54 million Series A valuing the 11-month-old Doodles at $704 million. The funding round was another ray of sunshine for Keast and his cofounders—a miraculous one, too, given the truly icy depths of the current crypto tundra.
