Cameo Adds a Bored Ape to Its Celebrity Video Platform

Christian Hetrick

Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.

Adam Draper next to his Bored Ape
Photo courtesy of Adam Draper

If you’re still wondering what a Bored Ape is and why someone would spend six figures to buy one, you can now ask one of the cartoon chimps yourself. Celebrity video platform Cameo is offering personalized messages from Bored Ape Yacht Club #9132. Or more precisely, from Adam Draper, the venture capitalist who owns the NFT artwork.

Draper, a UCLA grad and the founder and managing director of Boost VC, is a Web3 enthusiast who made early bets on Coinbase and Etherscan, among other crypto investments. This week, Draper joined Cameo to sell pre-recorded videos of himself as a 3D animated Bored Ape, starting at $25. The videos are aimed at Web3 startup founders, who may seek motivation or feedback on their pitches, Draper told dot.LA.


“As an investor, any way that you can open access through new distribution to see deals, you should do that,” Draper said. “I thought, ‘Hey, no one else is really doing this. I might be able to attract great founders through this.’”

Draper described his foray into Cameo as a bit of an experiment. Blockchain firms like Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, have attached broad commercialization rights to NFTs, which are unique digital assets verified using blockchain technology. That means NFT holders can slap their ape on a t-shirt and sell it—or license them as characters for novels and movies—to make money from their intellectual property. Draper is using the likeness of a Bored Ape he bought for his Cameo, with help from a Texas startup called Aquifer to create the videos. His Boost VC firm is an investor in Aquifer, which helps people and brands make “instant animated videos with their IP.”

“If we are moving forward with the advent of NFTs and communities building out open source, intellectual property—like becoming a Disney sort of thing—we need to experiment and see what other tools need to be created in order to make this a real movement,” Draper said.

Blockchain boosters believe NFTs, cryptocurrencies and related technologies will give us a better, decentralized internet that is free of middlemen and gatekeepers. Until then, we have videos of VCs rendered as animated simians. Many consumers are still leery of NFTs due to a rollercoaster crypto market, environmental harms of crypto mining and headline-grabbing scams—including one involving Cameo’s CEO, Steve Galanis, whose Bored Ape was stolen.

Draper acknowledged that some people will find his Cameo silly. In fact, he’s counting on it. He expects to receive requests to send videos—as a joke—to people who hate crypto. He said his Bored Ape is the first NFT avatar on Cameo, putting him on the frontier of such potential use cases. Draper is donating all proceeds from the videos to Mission Blue, a group working to protect the oceans.

“I love being in industries where there are haters,” Draper said. “That means when they realize the value, they become impassioned lovers of the craft. And so it's just all about changing everyone's mind over a period of time.”

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

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