DNABlock Raises $7 Million To Help Web3 Creators Mint NFT Avatars

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.

DNABLOCK used REPLIKANT to create ‘The Catalyst” an all-female supergroup of NFTs.
Courtesy of DNABlock

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Los Angeles-based DNABlock, which helps Web3 creators mint non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of avatars, has raised $7 million in what the startup calls a second seed round.

The funding was led by investors Sfermion, Solana Ventures, Animoca Brands and Non-Fungible Labs, with additional participation by the likes of SoftBank and Gaingels. The new round comes after the company previously raised $1.2 million in initial seed funding in September.


DNABlock plans to use the capital to further develop and scale its flagship Replikant software tool, which lets creators make video game-quality 3D avatars and animated content without needing experience in coding or animation. The startup, which launched in 2017, also plans to launch an L.A. studio for creators working on NFTs and add to its leadership ranks.

“When people began writing essays about the metaverse two years ago, we were already building the tools to make it happen.” DNABlock co-founder and CTO Luc Schurgers said in a statement. “It was clear from the start that procedurally generated avatars and animation were the future, so we assembled a team of game engine veterans with several AAA-titles under their belts and got busy.”

The firm says its Replikant technology is interoperable—meaning that an avatar’s code can jump from one Replikant-powered world to another. With more creators relying on blockchain technology to build their brands, Schurgers said other startups in the space are now “play[ing] catch-up” to DNABlock’s platform.

The company also announced that it has hired former YouTube virtual reality executive Scott Broock as its chief strategy officer. Broock also formerly served as head of digital strategy for animation studio Illumination.

Previous DNABlock investors include Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin and Mike Shinoda of the rock band Linkin Park.

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Relativity Space Launches World’s First 3D-Printed Rocket, But Falls Short of Orbit

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Relativity Space Launches World’s First 3D-Printed Rocket, But Falls Short of Orbit
Photo: Relativity Space

The largest 3D-printed object to ever fly had liftoff yesterday as Long Beach-based Relativity Space launched its Terran 1 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Terran 1 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at around 7 p.m. PST March 22. It was Relativity’s third attempt at sending Terran 1 to the cosmos and the nighttime launch was quite a sight to behold. The clarity of the night sky was perfect to see the blue jets of flame cascading out of Terran 1’s nine Aeon 1 engines, all 3D-printed, as the rocket took off.

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Sports Stadiums Are Turning to Immersive Sound to Keep Fans Engaged

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Sports Stadiums Are Turning to Immersive Sound to Keep Fans Engaged
Photo: Edge Sound Research

In 2020, the Minnesota Twins experimented with a new technology that brought fans the ability to physically feel the sounds they were hearing in the stadium in the back of their seats as part of a new immersive way to experience baseball.

The tech was made by Riverside-based startup Edge Sound Research, which built a mobile lounge – basically, a small seating section equipped with its technology and on wheels to travel around the stadium – for Twins fans to experience what it calls “embodied audio” around Target field. It was a bid on the Twins’ part to keep fans more engaged during the game, and Edge Sound Research CEO Valtteri Salomaki said the Twins were impressed.

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B Capital’s Howard Morgan On The Key To Early Stage Investing

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.

B Capital’s Howard Morgan On The Key To Early Stage Investing
Provided by LAV

On this episode of the LA Venture podcast, B Capital Group General Partner and Chair Howard Morgan discusses his thoughts on early stage investing and the importance of company ownership.


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