VeeFriends & a16z
Andreessen Horowitz (aka a16z), a venture capital firm founded in Silicon Valley in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology and the next internet. With more than $7.6 billion raised across four funds, the a16z crypto fund invests in web3 companies and protocols from early seed-stage projects to fully-developed networks. Its crypto-native team supports founders and the growth of web3 through its research organization, engineering and security teams, legal and regulatory teams, go-to-market expertise, recruiting services, educational content, and more. They recently announced that they were leading a $50M round in VeeFriends, the NFT project launched by Gary Vaynerchuck.
Since its launch on May 11th of 2021, VeeFriends has amassed approximately 200,000 ETH ($333M) in primary and secondary sales, has released more than 10 collaborations, and has one of the largest communities on Discord for an NFT project. VeeFriends will use the capital injection to support building the future intellectual property of the 283 VeeFriends characters. The investment will be used to fuel expansion plans for its creative, technical and experiential operations. VeeFriends is building its IP across different multimedia platforms including physical and digital spaces. They are also planning to use proceeds to recruit the best talent from the entertainment and Web3 industries.
a16z wrote:
Gary Vee’s commitment to supporting his community members’ personal growth has been evident throughout his entire career. He’s been at the cutting edge of community and entrepreneurship since the early days of social media. From launching Wine Library to his success with VaynerX and Vayner Sports, Gary was one of the first entrepreneurs to bring everyone along for the journey through compelling motivational and business-oriented content. He has now unlocked the next chapter through his NFT project VeeFriends – a blueprint for effectively leveraging web3 via unique, meaningful intellectual property, and an extraordinary community.
The evolution of historical characters like Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, The Getalong Gang, Snorks, and Wuzzles has inspired Gary to bring the next generation of digital IP onto the blockchain, encouraging audiences of all ages trying to make their online aspirations a reality. At the foundation of VeeFriends’ IP are meaningful attributes for humanity — such as tolerance, patience, and authenticity —displayed through simple, hand drawn cartoon characters. VeeFriends to date has inspired and convened a community of creatives, entrepreneurs, storytellers, and technologists fueled by these core values, as well as Gary’s consistent message of hustle and hard work. VeeFriends NFTs are brought to life through motivational storytelling and creative on-chain character development.
Not only is VeeFriends an exciting NFT project, it also provides offline and in-person utility through curated experiences like VeeCon. The sold-out conference brought over 7,000 NFT ticket holders together for an incredible week of informative conversations on web3, live music, and networking all anchored around VeeFriends community. Gary and the VeeFriends team are building an engaged community through unique content and experiences, tied together through the power of web3. VeeFriends represents the ethos of entrepreneurship, and we’re humbled by the opportunity to support Gary and the VeeFriends community on this journey.