Participated · Series A · Aug 2022

NFT Genius builds experiences and marketplace technology for NFTs, including Gaia, a secondary market for sports, entertainment, art, and culturally relevant digital collectibles. The company has created global NFT collections such as Ballerz and partnered with athletes and artists including Shareef and Shaquille O’Neal, golfer Bryson DeChambeau, WNBA’s Kelsey Plum, and Duncan Robinson. Founded by Jeremy Born, Kurt Braget, and Karl Meier, the company is based in Los Angeles, CA. NFT Genius closed a $10.5M Series A at a $150M valuation. The company intends to use the funds to expand beyond sports into broader entertainment and culture deals and to scale the Gaia marketplace to support thousands of companies and brands reaching mainstream consumers. Anuke Ganegoda of Dapper Labs will join as a board observer, and past seed investors include Mark Cuban, Anthony Pompliano, Sound Ventures, and HOF Capital. NFT Genius is developing a music-focused NFT marketplace and immersive-experience platform built on Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain. The marketplace is still under production; the company says it will create a verticalized destination for interactive fan experiences and meaningful virtual connections. While primarily focused on music, NFT Genius expects to expand NFTs into sports, gaming and comedy. The company released a Bitcoin-themed NFT collection in fall 2020 that included a cross-platform treasure hunt for a 1 BTC prize. NFT Genius raised $4 million in a seed round and is betting on immersive, collectible NFT experiences despite a recent market cooldown. The team positions NFTs as a way to restore collectibility and deepen artist-fan storytelling.

Participated · Series A · Jun 2022

Zigazoo operates a kid-safe social app that lets users make and share video responses to challenges from vetted children’s brands and talent. The company has integrated NFTs into the app, enabling users to buy, sell, trade, and include token art in profiles and videos; its NFT drops have sold out. Zigazoo’s NFTs are built on the Flow blockchain and the app has partnered on drops with Moonbug Entertainment, Invisible Universe’s Qai Qai, and digital artist Nyla Hayes. The company plans to expand Web3 offerings by running additional NFT drops, increasing in-app token utility (richer trading options and a new fan club experience), and building a creator studio and user-driven NFT marketplace. Zigazoo says it will use new capital to grow toward becoming the leading social network for kids to interact directly with creators and brands in kids’ media. The company is Miami-based and announced a $17M Series A to support these plans; the post-money valuation was not disclosed.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2021

OliveX (BVI) builds a fitness metaverse that lets players work out at home, in the gym, or outdoors to earn in-game rewards. The company develops gamified fitness apps and technologies, including Zombies, Run!, which has over a million players, KARA Smart Fitness, and 22 Pushups. OliveX is preparing a new mobile audio adventure game, Dustland Runner, and plans to add more content, unique in-game NFTs, and new app integrations with $DOSE, its native token. The team links experiences through $DOSE, an ERC-20-compatible token intended as the central in-game currency for purchase, utility and action. Recent strategic funding will be used to accelerate the Dustland Runner mobile release, expand game content, create NFTs, and develop $DOSE integrations across products. The company has announced forthcoming IDO offerings of the $DOSE token on Chainboost and Polkastarter.

Participated · Series A · Oct 2021

Concept Art House is a content developer and publisher specializing in NFTs and video game art. Led by CEO James Zhang, CAH has provided art for more than 1,000 shipped games and has worked on major franchises including Call of Duty Mobile, Fortnite, Game of Thrones: Conquest, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Magic: The Gathering, NBA 2K series, ROBLOX, and PUBG. The company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Shanghai and Chengdu, China. In October 2021 CAH raised $25m in a Series A round led by Dapper Labs with participation from a broad group of investors and advisors. Dapper Labs will act as a partner on multiple upcoming projects and will nominate Mik Naayem to CAH's board; CAH will also nominate an additional board member with NFT, blockchain, and digital entertainment domain expertise. The company plans to use the new capital to build out its team, pursue opportunistic acquisitions, create a large NFT vault, and enhance licensing deals across top blockchain protocols and marketplaces.