Guide To NFT Launchpads – Best NFT Launchpads In 2023

Some people might confuse NFT launchpads to typical NFT marketplaces since they are able to mint, sell, and trade NFTs on either platform. However, NFT launchpads exist for several distinct reasons and are essential to the growth of the NFT industry as a whole. Here’s all you need to know about NFT launchpads, and some of the best that you can consider for your upcoming NFT project. 

best nft launchpads

Table of Contents

What Is An NFT Launchpad?

An NFT launchpad is essentially a crowdfunding platform for selected high quality NFT projects. It is a place where creators, entrepreneurs, and startups can showcase their projects to their targeted audience. Today, there are NFT launchpads for artists, games, and musicians, with more on the way.

On the surface, it may look like an online marketplace since the community can buy various NFTs from these projects directly on the platform. However, the NFTs are usually sold at a minimal price, allowing early investors to reap a high return on their investments if and when the project takes off in the future.

As a result, many retail and even institutional investors do shop for good opportunities on NFT launchpads given the potential for insanely high ROIs. On the other hand, project creators can easily reach a global audience while having a chance to secure more funding. As for the launchpads, their job is to vet each NFT project before they are being allowed into the ecosystem. This not only protects potential investors from scams and ‘rug pulls’, but also maintains the reliability of the launchpads themselves.

Notable Projects That Used NFT Launchpads

Many NFT projects in the past could not have gotten to where they are now without the support from NFT launchpads. For instance, Axie Infinity, Legends of Elumia, and STEPN, were once tiny projects that utilised launchpads to give them a much needed boost in terms of funding and marketing.

Best NFT Launchpads in 2023

1) NFTb 

NFTb launchpad looks for various promising projects including artwork, games, trading cards, and other digital collectibles. Besides providing a platform for projects to connect with their audience, they also have their own investment arm, NFTb Labs, that partners and invests in extraordinary NFT projects. To date, NFTb has seen projects raise 6-figure funds and should continue to see such success in the near future.

nftb launchpad
Another successful launch on NFTb. Credit: @MetarunGame

2) NFTPad

NFTPad is a launchpad for blockchain games, art, and DeFi. Their goal is to aid the growth of the industry in a safe and sustainable way. As such, NFTPad has recently introduced strict rules through their ‘Safeguarded Launch Protocol’. This includes minimum liquidity, strict compliance with the vesting schedule and initial roadmap, full token audits, and other necessary regulations. This ensures that the community is protected to the best of the team’s abilities. Apart from that, they also have a DAO in place to vote on important decisions for the platform. For instance, the recent proposals involve refunding investors for unvested funds.

nft pad
Get early access through these IGOs. Credit: @nftpadofficial

3) NFTLaunch

NFTLaunch has a proven track record through BSCPad and TRONPAD, and has established a more rigid approach to their launchpad. The incubator program takes care of legal issues, tokenomics, token audit, marketing, and even industry networking. Although there is a higher barrier to entry, this approach ensures that the projects have an overall higher quality compared to the rest of the competition. 

Investors can also get behind the team through $NFTL. Credit: NFTLaunch

4) GameFi Launchpads

Gamestarter and Enjin Starter are two of the more popular initial game offering (IGO) launchpads in the market today. Both of these platforms offer holistic support for new blockchain games, including token launch and in-house NFT marketplaces, with multiple ways of providing liquidity and protecting the investors. In addition, both of them have their native tokens to fuel their respective ecosystems.

5) Honourable mentions

Several large crypto exchanges do host their own NFT launchpads, including the likes of Binance, KuCoin, and Coinbase. Many of them have seen success in initial exchange offerings (IEOs) and initial decentralised exchange offerings (IDOs). The higher traffic in these large platforms will give your projects higher exposure, which may eventually lead to higher conversion.

Summary

For new NFT projects, getting listed on NFT launchpads can definitely be a good marketing tool to stand out among the multitude of new NFT projects entering the market everyday. However, while there is usually a rigorous selection process before listing projects on the launchpads, they still carry a relatively significant amount of investment risk. Therefore, retail investors should always proceed with extreme caution before participating in any of the presales going on in the launchpads.

If you’d like to learn more about launching your NFT project and marketing it successfully, check out our NFT guides below.