Led · Series A · Mar 2025

Vermillio builds an AI licensing and protection platform designed to let IP holders and talent safely engage with generative AI technologies. Its core product, TraceIDTM, provides attribution and features including IP and NIL content monitoring and reporting, alerts and takedowns, auditing of authorized AI licenses, lost revenue management, and payment management. The company has demonstrated TraceID in partnerships with WME, Sony Pictures, Sony Music/Legacy Recordings, The Orb, and David Gilmour, tracking and enabling monetization of fan-created works. With new capital, Vermillio plans to scale operations and continue building solutions aimed at a generative AI internet that prioritizes consent, credit, and compensation. The team emphasizes secure control of data and AI rights to open new revenue streams for creators and rightsholders. Co‑founder and CEO Dan Neely, who recently made TIME’s list of 100 most influential individuals in AI, has been active in policy conversations including guidance on the NO FAKES Act.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2023

Fave is a social marketplace and community app that lets superfans connect with like-minded music fans, share content and compete for status through its Fan Verification system. Users earn points based on streaming activity, concert attendance, proof of meeting artists and other fan behaviors, unlocking perks and experiences provided by artists and brand partners. The app includes a marketplace for reselling concert tickets and selling fan-made merch, where Fave currently takes a 2.4% transaction fee (it has tested 5%, 10% and 0% previously) and artists can opt to earn 10% from fans' sales. Fave leverages generative AI and a proprietary predictive fan intelligence product to provide artist teams with detailed fan data and outreach tools, and it already allows artist teams to contact fans directly. More than 50,000 fans have joined Fave and the company has a reported valuation of $15 million; it is still in beta with an official launch planned for the end of 2023. The company plans to use new funding to deepen its artist tools and expand beyond music into movie/TV, content creators, sports and fashion. Founder and CEO Jacquelle Amankonah Horton previously worked at Google and YouTube. Fave is a fandom-centric social platform and marketplace that connects superfans and creators within dedicated fandom communities, beginning with Swifties. The product lets fans connect, create content, and buy and sell fan-themed merchandise and artwork in a marketplace where Fave takes a 10% transaction fee; creators and Fave can also earn via advertising. The company launched into public beta alongside the announcement of a $2.2 million seed round. Founder Jacquelle Amankonah Horton built the product to give superfans richer ways to express adoration and to provide creators another revenue stream. Fave’s go-to-market focuses on fans and onboarding prominent influencers within each fandom to attract users and foster community. Features include creator-run contests, points-based rewards for competitive superfans, and a marketplace where points can be spent; the team is actively listening to users to determine which fandoms to build next.

Participated · Series A · Jul 2023

Komi offers an all-in-one digital storefront and landing-page tool for creators, celebrities and brands to aggregate music, videos, merch, tour dates and more across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Spotify, YouTube, Twitch and Shopify. The company recently launched public access to new commerce features such as on-page checkout, the ability to browse multiple stores and add items from different stores into a single cart, and deeper marketing and community-building tools. Komi is rolling out integrations (including an upcoming Amazon storefront integration) and custom-built data-capture tools that give fans instant benefits in exchange for email or phone information. The platform is priced at $9.99 per month or $96 per year with a 30-day free trial, and Komi says it has partnered with creators and brands across six continents with a combined audience of more than two billion followers; notable users include Lizzo, Usher, Meghan Trainor and Jessica Alba. The company plans to use new funding to expand its product suite and grow its U.S.-based team. Komi first launched in 2021 as a landing-page tool and has evolved into a broader commerce and creator-business platform. Komi is a London-based landing page and personalized website builder launched in October 2021 that targets content creators, musicians, athletes, celebrities and other creative talent. The product lets users create a central hub to promote podcasts, videos, music, merch, tour dates and social links, and integrates with platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, Twitch and Shopify. Komi provides backend analytics such as total views, earnings, clicks and average clickthrough rate to help creators track engagement. The platform is invite-only today with plans to open to the public in early 2023 and operates on a $10-per-month subscription model. Komi reports fans engaging with Komi pages has grown 40% month-over-month since launch and that user engagement has more than doubled over the same period. High-profile users include Lizzo, Elton John, Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Eva Longoria and influencer Zoe Sugg. The company said it will use funding to improve the platform and eventually roll out additional fan engagement and monetization tools, but declined to provide specific details.

Participated · Series A · May 2022

Slip.stream operates a creator-safe music platform that supplies music for streamers and other content creators while creating marketing and revenue opportunities for artists. The company plans to use new capital to accelerate platform development, grow its team, add content partnerships, and expand its catalog by onboarding more musicians. Slip.stream will work with Sony Music to explore premium music opportunities for Sony artists within the platform. The company reports traction of more than 100,000 creators and an audience reach of over 500 million, with live-streaming and gaming communities representing a significant portion of that audience. In the coming months Slip.stream plans to launch a service enabling musicians to make their music available to its creators and tap into new revenue streams. The team recently added three digital media veterans to lead business development, growth marketing, and talent/influencer relationships, and expanded its advisory board with industry figures including T-Pain, Anthony Pisano, and FaZe Blaze.

Participated · Series A · Aug 2021

MakersPlace operates an NFT marketplace for digital art, leveraging blockchain technology to ensure authenticity, uniqueness and ownership for digital creators. The platform accepts both cryptocurrency (ETH) and non-cryptocurrency (USD) payments. Founded in 2018 by Dannie Chu, Yash Nelapati and Ryoma Ito, the company is based in San Francisco, CA. In June 2021 it raised $30M in a Series A to support growth. The company will use the funds to acquire additional talent, scale the business in existing markets and explore new ones. MakersPlace targets digital creators and collectors across art, music and sports, with notable angel backers from those industries. MakersPlace provides a marketplace where creators upload digital works, verify identity via Civic, and generate an Ethereum-based token that records the creator, title, edition number, date and contract IDs to prove authorship. Artists can sell limited-edition digital prints through the site and MakersPlace takes a 15 percent commission on sales. Collectors receive a non-fungible token they can store in their own crypto wallet or a MakersPlace wallet, purchase with credit card or Ether, and resell on secondary markets; MakersPlace assumes no ownership of hosted art. The site officially launched after a year of beta testing and the company says it has partnered with thousands of digital artists. The platform emphasizes easy onboarding for creators with minimal blockchain experience while relying on identity-verification to deter fraudulent uploads. MakersPlace competes with several other blockchain art projects and faces risks around attribution and potential hijacking of creative identities.