Chance raises $3.2M to build a superapp for Pokémon TCG collectors, blending trading, liquidity, and social community

Collectors don’t stop caring about their cards after they buy them. That’s where the friction starts. Storage, discovery, trading, and community all sit in different places, and the experience breaks down fast. A new game marketplace startup thinks it can fix that.

Chance Studios has raised $3.2 million to build what it calls a superapp for trading-card-game collectors, starting with Pokémon. The round was co-led by Makers Fund and Hashed, with participation from Arbitrum Gaming Ventures, Gam3Girl Ventures, and Digital Elm. The mix of backers signals a growing belief that collectibles are shifting from simple marketplaces into full-stack platforms that blend commerce with community.

The pitch is straightforward. The trading card market has grown into a multi-billion-dollar category, yet collectors still jump between apps to buy, sell, track, and interact. Chance is betting that bringing all of that together in one place will unlock more engagement and transactions.

The company was founded by Jun Park and Arvin Dabiri, both deeply rooted in the TCG scene. Dabiri built GoatedPullz into a recognizable name in Pokémon card buying and selling, giving the team early credibility with collectors who tend to trust insiders over outsiders.

That background shows up in the product. Chance combines a marketplace with built-in liquidity, collection management, and a social layer that lets users trade, chat, and share their collections. The goal is to make collecting more interactive, rather than a one-time purchase followed by silence.

Inside the shift from buying cards to building communities: The missing layer in the multi-billion dollar TCG market

Early signals suggest there’s demand. Within two weeks of launching its open beta, the platform recorded trading volume that beat internal expectations, including more than $100,000 in a single day. On social media, the company says its original content has already generated over 500,000 views on Instagram since November, giving it a head start on distribution in a niche that thrives on visibility and hype.

“After interviewing more than 200 content creators, institutional players, families, collectors, and streamers, many of whom are close friends, we saw a clear and urgent gap in the market,” said Jun Park, Founder and CEO of Chance. “Collectors need more than a marketplace. They need a home where collecting leads to connecting. And that’s exactly what Chance is building.”

Investors are leaning into that idea. Jay Chi from Makers Fund frames the product as more than just a buy-and-sell platform. “Chance is a playground where serious collectors can not only find top chases and instantly trade, but also enjoy a community of like-minded collectors through group chats, shared games, and more,” he said. “We’re excited to back a team that truly lives and breathes this culture and is looking to provide a unique, all-in-one platform to the community.”

From Hashed, Simon Kim pointed to the pace of change in collectibles, especially across Asia. “TCG and collectibles are being redefined faster than any cultural asset class in Asia today, and the winners will be those who love this world most authentically. Chance isn’t just building a platform for collectors. They’re building the platform only collectors could have built. In a market where authenticity is the real edge, that love is a moat no fast-follower can replicate.”

Arbitrum Gaming Ventures investor Ethan Sy added that the company is chasing a broader shift. “Chance isn’t setting out to replicate what’s already on the market. The company’s mission is to redefine the collectibles industry itself, building the infrastructure for a future where collectors don’t just buy and flip, but genuinely experience, share, and build community around the cards they love.”

The timing matters. Collectibles have moved beyond niche hobby status into mainstream culture, fueled by social platforms, influencers, and a younger generation of buyers who expect digital layers on top of physical assets. Marketplaces like eBay solved distribution years ago. What’s missing is a unified experience that keeps collectors engaged after the purchase.

Chance is betting that engagement is the real unlock. If collectors remain active within a single ecosystem, liquidity increases, transaction volume rises, and the platform becomes more valuable with each interaction. That flywheel is familiar in social products, though it’s still early in collectibles.

For now, the company is focused on Pokémon and the broader TCG community. The bigger question is whether that model can scale to other categories and sustain the network effects it aims to achieve.

If it works, collecting may start to look less like a transaction and more like an ongoing experience. That’s the gap Chance is trying to close.

Chance founder Jun Park (Credit: Chance)