• Genies

  Participated · Equity · Dec 2017

  Genies provides a software development kit and an application programming interface that developers can use to integrate avatar technology into apps, plus user-facing tools for creators without extensive coding know-how. The company enables creation of avatars, avatar fashion lines, accessories and other virtual creations, and allows users to turn creations into NFTs which can be traded on its marketplace, The Warehouse. Genies is testing consumer avatar creator tools through an invitation-only beta program and has formed partnerships with Warner Bros. Entertainment and Universal Music Group to enable artist avatars and avatar wearables. The company claims a 99% celebrity avatar market share. Genies will use the new funding to hire more engineers and to continue enhancing the core technology powering its avatar tools and surrounding ecosystem. Financially, the company announced the new round at a $1 billion valuation after raising $150 million. Genies builds customizable digital avatars and an SDK to integrate those avatars across apps and platforms, focusing on giving entertainers and users a digital presence. The company has secured partnerships with high-profile musicians such as Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes and Cardi B, and brand deals including Gucci. It has rolled out avatar creation to all users through beta mobile apps and emphasizes that it is an avatar company first — not an NFT startup — even as it explores crypto-backed digital goods. Genies is launching an NFT/crypto marketplace and accessories storefront on Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain in partnership with Dapper; the marketplace is expected to launch in the coming months, potentially as early as this summer. The startup says pandemic-era trends accelerated demand for wholly digital social spaces and that these dynamics helped drive recent investor interest. Genies began by creating cartoon-like 2D avatars for celebrities and has since rolled out more realistic 3D avatars plus a software development kit that partners like Giphy and Gucci can integrate. The company enables celebrities and everyday users to create avatars that can wear branded merchandise and appear across apps. Genies works with thousands of celebrities, including Shawn Mendes, J.Lo, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Cardi B, and others. The company says it plans to expand its SDK partnerships to form a digital identity ecosystem that lets avatars move between platforms, framing that effort as a mini‑version of the metaverse. As part of an Asia push, Genies is opening an office in Tokyo and expanding its presence in the region. Financially, the company announced a $3 million investment from Bandai Namco to support that expansion; no revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article. Genies creates lifelike cartoon avatars that users can style and export for use across iMessage, Instagram and other apps. The company pursues a three-pronged strategy: a consumer app that sells branded clothing and accessories for avatars, a digital talent agency that connects celebrities with brand partnerships, and a software kit for third-party apps to integrate Genies avatars. Brands including Gucci, Bird and New Balance have paid to style avatars or to have celebrities promote products via their Genies; celebrity accounts such as Scooter Braun’s and DJ Khaled’s have featured the avatars. Genies launched out of stealth in 2017 and relaunched its app in November 2018; the article describes it as a three-year-old startup. The company has attracted celebrity investors and backers including Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving and 50 Cent and has leveraged that network to drive promotional deals. Financially, Genies raised a new $15 million round that brought total funding to $40 million and a valuation north of $100 million, but the CEO would not disclose revenue and the company is not yet profitable. Genies creates lifelike, personalized avatars that users can customize from millions of permutations and use to chat, share stickers, games, animations and AR across other apps. Its mobile apps let you chat through your avatar—which detects actions, places, things and emotions and offers corresponding animations—and support conversations with up to six friends. Genies is shifting away from scripted content toward algorithmic animation suggestions and is positioning itself as an avatar services company via a developer SDK. The SDK lets partners license deep avatar features (keyboards, stickers, games, AR) and includes brand integrations such as a Gucci wheel in the creator. Financially, Genies raised a $10 million party round to fund these strategies after previously raising $15 million in stealth at launch a year earlier. The product has attracted more than one million people who have customized avatars, and users spend an average of 19 minutes creating their Genie.

No current team members are available.