Fox has made a strategic investment in Eluvio at a $100 million valuation. The technology company has designed a solution, Content Fabric, for streaming and storing video content which incorporates blockchain for certain functionality. As part of the investment, Eluvio has been selected as the blockchain technology provider for Fox’s recently launched non-fungible token (NFT) unit Blockchain Creative Labs, part of of Fox’s Bento Box.
Earlier this year, the entertainment company announced it planned to use NFTs for its upcoming series Krapopolis, an animated comedy written by Emmy award winner Dan Harmon. The show will be the first to be curated entirely on blockchain. Digital assets such as NFTs of the characters and background art and tokens can be exchanged for rewards and experiences and will be available for purchase in the to-be-launched Blockchain Creative Labs’ digital marketplace.
At the time of that announcement, Fox also allocated a $100 million fund to the unit.
Meanwhile, Eluvio was launched in 2019 by Michelle Munson and Serban Simu. They won an Emmy award in the technology & engineering category and developed digital video transport technology Aspera, which IBM acquired. Eluvio’s purpose is to scale the monetization of digital content.
Its Content Fabric platform is designed as a new way to store and stream high-quality video and other digital content and uses blockchain for content tracking as well as NFTs. The blockchain aspect of Content Fabric is an Ethereum compatible sidechain (private network) that can also enable NFT transfers on the public Ethereum network.
With Fox, Eluvio will support the development of Blockchain Creative Labs’ digital marketplace and the creation of the products in it. Eluvio’s technology also aligns with Fox’s low environmental impact plan because it uses less energy than traditional digital distribution systems.
In terms of blockchain, it achieves this through a proof of authority (permissioned) consensus mechanism as opposed to proof of work. Another differentiator is the Content Fabric also stores the creative content, although not on the blockchain. This addresses one of the challenges of NFT content potentially disappearing. Eluvio first minted a token for Fox back in May.
“We believe there is great opportunity in tokenized media on the blockchain, which represents a new era in how technology and entertainment will drive one another forward,” said Scott Greenberg, CEO of Blockchain Creative Labs and Co-Founder and CEO of Bento Box Entertainment. “The Eluvio team members are pioneers in the digital arena, and this strategic investment in Eluvio brings FOX and Blockchain Creative Labs an indispensable partner with whom we will build this business as we together chart the future for the NFT market.”
Eluvio has previously worked with MGM Studios and Sony, which recently invested in NFT marketplace MakersPlace.
