Pixel Vault, the company behind non-fungible token (NFT) collection Punks Comic, yesterday announced a $100 million investment from Velvet Sea Ventures and 01A. The money will be used to develop an interactive NFT development platform.
Last year was a breakthrough for various platforms in the crypto space and Pixel Vault is no different. The company launched its first NFT in May 2021 and has since minted 104,000 NFTs that generated almost 100,000 ETH in transactions ($206 million). Of course, given they’re NFTs, much of the resale value will have gone to the NFT owners. The company was part of a partnership with Adidas and the Bored Ape Yacht Club, and launched the MetaHero Universe governed by token holders.
The investment will enable Pixel Vault to expand the uses of its platforms and explore other opportunities for monetizing intellectual property.
“I bought 10 PUNKS Comics during the initial public sale and was fascinated by Sean’s unique view at the time that NFTs are the medium, not the product,” said Velvet Sea partner Michael Lazerow. ”Intellectual property is the product. And Pixel Vault is building it in close partnership with its engaged community of avid collectors, of which I am a proud token-carrying member.”
Pixel Vault is looking to expand the use of NFTs beyond minted collections and commercialize assets from music, films, and games other creative content.
At a technological level, this has already been done. Dapper Labs mints video highlights. And with music, blockchain platform Audius, it won’t be long before turning music into NFTs becomes the norm. Pixel Vault is more like the Marvel or Disney of the NFT world.
What’s clear within the NFT space is the most successful companies are capable of creating strong communities. That’s an area where Pixel Vault excels. Hence using the investment to build partnerships with content creators makes a lot of sense.
Another potential use for the investment is to expand its metaverse, MetaHero. The platform has a Marvel-like environment with heroes and villains battling for their own agenda. While it is a niche offering, hero based projects tend to gather a legion of dedicated fans who might be willing to spend enough to make such a close targeted product worth the risk.
Meanwhile, Marvel has launched SpiderMan NFTs on the Veve platform and parent Disney licensed Mickey Mouse NFTs to the same firm. It looks like Disney might be eyeing creating its own metaverse.
