Virtual avatar startup Genies has parlayed its designs on the metaverse into unicorn status.
On Tuesday, the Marina del Rey-based company announced a $150 million Series C funding round led by Silicon Valley private equity firm Silver Lake. The funding round, which also included existing investors BOND, NEA and Tamarack Global, values Genies at $1 billion, a spokesperson for the startup said.
Founded in 2017, Genies established itself by making avatars for celebrities, from Rihanna to Russell Westbrook, who have used the online lookalikes for social media and sponsorship opportunities. The company claims to have “99% celebrity avatar market share” after securing partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to make avatars for each music label’s entire roster of artists.
The startup wants to “build an avatar for every single person on Earth,” CEO Akash Nigam told dot.LA in February. Avatars—digital figures that represent a particular person—may be the way people interact with each other in the 3D virtual worlds of the metaverse, the much-hyped iteration of the internet where users may one day work, shop and socialize.
Genies CEO Akash Nigam.Courtesy of Genies
Genies has started to roll out avatar creator tools for consumers in beta, testing it with small groups of invite-only users. The company has also launched an NFT marketplace called The Warehouse, where creators can buy, sell and trade avatar creations, including wearable items. Genies gives creators “full ownership and commercialization rights” of their Genie avatar creations, according to the company, and collects a 5% transaction fee each time an avatar NFT is sold, a company spokesperson told dot.LA.
“We believe avatar ecosystems are going to shape Web3 the same way that mobile apps defined Web2,” Nigam said in a statement Tuesday. “In Web3, Gen Z avatar ecosystem builders are going to be the leaders of innovation and, through our creator tools, we strive to empower their wildest imaginations, ideas and experiences as avatar creations.”
Genies had raised around $100 million in funding prior to the new Silver Lake-led round. The company also recently received an investment from former Disney boss Bob Iger, who joined the company’s board last month.
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