This Beverly Hills Startup Just Raised Millions to Help Brands Mint NFTs

Harri Weber

Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to harrison@dot.la.

This Beverly Hills Startup Just Raised Millions to Help Brands Mint NFTs
Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash

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A new blockchain startup called NFT Brands has unveiled a $3.6 million seed funding round today as it barrels into the $40 billion-plus market for non-fungible tokens.

The Beverly Hills-based company is aiming to launch “multimillion-dollar NFT projects” for brands and celebrities, according to founder and CEO Noah Loul. NFT Brands closed the seed round in under two weeks, Loul said, and is now turning its attention to a targeted $35 million Series A round that is slated to open to investors today.


“A day [in the blockchain and NFT market] is like a month in traditional industries,” Loul told dot.LA. “It moves at lightspeed. It’s a rocket, and we’re just adding the fuel to it right now.”

Loul declined to identify the investors involved in the seed round. A regulatory filing indicates that four investors participated in the funding.

NFT Brands pitches itself as handling the entire NFT creation process for brands and “elite figures,” from the design process to public relations and community management. The agency-like concept is a “fully-integrated development company,” in Loul’s words, that covers NFT production costs upfront; in exchange, NFT Brands typically receives about a 30% cut of the proceeds.

Loul said NFT Brands already has “$154 million [in NFT deals] in our pipeline with some of the largest brands,” though he declined to share names.

These days, numerous startups are raising millions off the hype that surrounds NFTs, not to mention cryptocurrencies and the wider blockchain-related phenomenon known as Web3. Los Angeles has quickly established itself as an epicenter for entertainment-related ventures that are helping music artists, athletes and celebrities get into the NFT game.

Earlier this month, Santa Monica-based venture capital firm M13 closed a new $400 million fund that it said will deploy Web3 technology as an overarching investment thesis.

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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 Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments

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 Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments
\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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