Pudgy Penguins

Pudgy Penguins began in July 2021 as Pudgy Penguins, 8,888 cartoon penguins on Ethereum launched by Cole Villemain, who goes by Cole Thereum, and three other founders, all college students at the time. Antoine Mingo, a freelance artist hired through Upwork, drew the characters. Holders got Pudgy Rods as a free claim that August, and Lil Pudgys, 22,222 smaller penguins, followed in December 2021 with one airdropped for each Pudgy Penguin.

In January 2022 the community voted the founders out, after accusations that they had missed their goals and drained the treasury. Luca Netz bought the project and its IP in April 2022. He still runs it as CEO of Igloo Inc., the parent company of Pudgy Penguins.

Under Netz the penguins became physical products. Pudgy Toys launched online in May 2023, reached Walmart that September and Target in 2024. Each toy carries a code that unlocks items in the Pudgy World game, and holders whose penguins are made into toys earn a licensing royalty through the OverpassIP platform. The company raised a seed round led by 1kx in 2023, launched the PENGU token on Solana in December 2024 and opened Abstract, Igloo's own Ethereum layer 2, in January 2025. A children's book with Random House, a Lil Pudgys YouTube series with TheSoul Publishing and Pudgy Party, a mobile game made with Mythical Games, all followed in 2025.