Gary Vaynerchuk’s VeeFriends closed its seed funding round with a $50 million investment from investment firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
VeeFriends Closes Million-Dollar Seed Round
Entrepreneur Gary Vee’s NFT company VeeFriends recently raised $50 million in a seed round that was led by leading American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16). The NFT company plans to use the funds to expand the VeeFriends universe through its creative, technical, and experiential operations. The plan is to develop further the future intellectual property of the 283 VeeFriends characters to reach different multimedia platforms, including new physical and digital spaces. Furthermore, the funds will also be used to hire fresh talent from the entertainment and Web3 industries.
Gary Vee, King Of NFTs
As a popular internet personality, Gary Vee rose to NFT fame quite soon after he launched his VeeFriends collection, which made him $90 million in 90 days. After signing multiple brand deals, he has successfully integrated many brands into his NFT collection. For example, in May, he teamed up with Johnnie Walker in a marquee partnership where particular VeeFriends holders would win limited edition bottles from the leading alcohol brand. Despite his success in the NFT space, Gary Vee has also talked about the need to focus on the technological advantages that NFTs offer instead of getting swept up in their novelty.
A16z Continues Web3 Investments
The President of Web3 at a16z crypto, Chris Lyons has referred to the VeeFriends project as a blueprint that guides its Web3 efforts by creating a strong community and backing it up with valuable and unique intellectual property. A16z is one of the main VC firms leading the Web3 movement, and its investment in the VeeFriends project in the seed round is noteworthy.
Lyons said,
“Not only is VeeFriends an exciting NFT project, it also provides offline and in-person utility through curated experiences like VeeCon…VeeFriends represents the ethos of entrepreneurship, and we’re humbled by the opportunity to support Gary and the VeeFriends community on this journey.”
VC Funding Going Strong
Despite the 2022 bear market, VC funding in crypto and web3 projects has stayed strong. In fact, according to data analysts at Pitchbook, VC funding for crypto firms hit $17.5 billion in just the first half of 2022. Therefore, experts believe that by the end of the year, it will likely overtake the $26.9 billion of VC funding recorded in 2021. Specifically, A16z itself recently broke records of the largest ever VC crypto fund by raising a whopping $4.5 billion for its fourth fund. In May, the investment giant stated that it was setting aside $1.5 billion of this fund for seed investments in Web3. The $50 million from a16z makes VeeFriends one of the first recipients of this fund.
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