Shibuya, an NFT Video Platform, Raises $6.9M in Seed Round

Shibuya, launched earlier this year and announced that it had raised $6.9 million seed funding led by a16z and Variant to expand its Ethereum NFT-driven interactive platform and onboard new creators. Celebrity investors like Paris Hilton and Kevin Durant as well as Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, and Aave founder Stani Kulechov also participated in the round.

Pplpleasr and co-founder Maciej Kuciara, a concept artist on Hollywood blockbusters, launched Shibuya in March with the first chapter of original anime series, “White Rabbit.” Since the launch, Shibuya has added the second chapter of “White Rabbit,” with the third instalment due in January.

The film follows a young heroine named Mirai, who tries to protect a world where technological advances have compromised the blockchain. While the film is free to watch, fans can purchase a producer pass that allows them to impact the film’s storyline and outcome. The film previously raised over $1.5 million through NFT sales to support its development. Holders can use the tokens to vote on two paths the film could take. The project seems like a cross between Netflix and Kickstarter, right?

Emily Yang, the co-founder of the project, aims to become “the A24 of Web3,” the indie movie studio behind films like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “Moonlight.” She thinks that Web3 content right now is just bad, though there is a lot of money in the industry. Pplpleasr believes that a decentralised video platform like Shibuya is essential for creatives to break from the traditional Hollywood machine, and she said that if they didn’t build it, someone else undoubtedly would. We continue to observe.