In the series B funding round, Genies raised $65 million from investors led by Mary Meeker’s Bond. Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot, also invested in the startup. The company uses the Flow blockchain to power its avatar platform.
Genies raises $65 million in series B round led by Mary Meeker’s Bond
Genies Inc. is a virtual identity startup that makes it easy for people to bring their digital avatars to life. The company’s technology lets users create a digital avatar that can be used to engage in social interactions. This round of funding will be used to build out its avatar technology and to hook into a wave of interest in non-fungible tokens, which let people own and trade digital artwork objects on marketplaces. In addition, Genies will continue building its own digital goods marketplace on Dapper Labs’ Flow platform.
The $65 million round was led by Bond, a venture capital firm founded by Meeker. Other investors included Breyer Capital, Tull Investment Group, Coinbase Ventures, and Dapper Labs. Meeker will join Genies’ board.
Genies’ platform lets users create and sell digital avatars using the Flow blockchain. In return, Genies takes a 5% cut of the sale price. Though Genies’ avatar creation tool is currently invitation-only, the company plans to roll it out to the general public this summer.
Genies recently announced a brand partnership with Gucci, and plans to leverage this partnership to increase its user base. The startup will also pitch other platforms to use its technology. The goal is to make avatars ubiquitous on the web and to monetize the user experience.
Genies is a four-year-old company that enables anyone to create and share a stylish virtual avatar. Its products include a consumer app and an avatar marketplace. Its CEO, Akash Nigam, has previously founded the startups Blend and Humans. The startup is backed by Coinbase Ventures, NEA, Polychain Capital, and Tull Investment Group.
The new funding will help Genies expand its digital identity technology. The company has also formed partnerships with Giphy and Dapper Labs, which will enhance its product offerings. Its partnership with Giphy, a search engine that offers short animated GIFs, will enable users to drop Genies avatars into text chat conversations.
Another recent funding round was led by General Catalyst, which has deep pockets to invest in NFT companies. The funds were used to expand the company’s presence in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Canada, and the U.K. The funds will go toward the development of proprietary technology and to focus on cities that have exclusive operators.
NFT platform uses Dapper Lab’s Flow blockchain
Dapper Labs developed the Flow blockchain from the ground up to support a new generation of popular DApps, games, and digital assets. Its multi-node architecture and multi-role capabilities quickly attracted developers. These features ensure efficiency, eliminating redundant processing efforts.
Flow has many advantages over other blockchains. It is fast, decentralized, developer-friendly, and scalable. It also offers low transaction costs. Flow was designed with ease of use in mind. Developers can easily create their own applications with minimal development time.
Dapper Labs is a startup that developed the Flow blockchain. Its architecture is based on a novel proof-of-stake consensus protocol that minimizes fees and minimizes environmental impact. Its architecture also emphasizes the developer experience, with a fully accessible programming environment, application composability, and other features. Flow has been used by over 3,000 developers, and it is rapidly becoming the blockchain of choice for games, collectibles, and more.
Dapper Lab’s Flow blockchain is also used by NBA Top Shot, a game powered by the NFT platform. It allows users to collect NBA “moments” and trade them for digital assets. Dapper Labs has also partnered with other high-profile companies and blockchain projects, including WWE, CNN, Warner Music Group, and UFC.
One of Dapper Lab’s goals is to mainstream NFTs. The company is working on this by targeting children and integrating them into everyday consumption habits. In addition, Dapper Labs has announced plans to launch NFTs at live games, such as the NBA Top Shot. This will give consumers the opportunity to interact with their favorite teams and players.
Flow’s blockchain is known for its snappy transaction speeds and low costs. This makes Flow an ideal choice for NFTs, though it still faces competition from Ethereum and other blockchains. Flow’s native cryptocurrency, FLOW, has been trading on cryptocurrency exchanges as high as $2.97, but it has since dropped to single-digit levels.
The Flow blockchain is a distributed ledger, and uses two tiers of nodes, called execution nodes and consensus nodes. The execution nodes handle computation for each transaction, which enables speed. Verification nodes double-check the computations performed by execution nodes. The Flow blockchain is also designed to facilitate smart contract programming.
The Flow blockchain uses a Proof of Stake consensus system. This method is more efficient than Proof of Work, as it divides the processing workload between specialized nodes. Flow’s multi-role node architecture also reduces energy usage. Flow’s per-transaction energy footprint is lower than the energy used by a Google search.
Dapper Labs has already expanded into NFTs other than sports. This expansion shows that its Flow product can handle the added utility and volume.
Wearables sold on Genie Marketplace
Unlike traditional wearables, the products sold on the Genie Marketplace will have a limited supply. The quantities will depend on their rarity and their specific properties. Genies will release new wearables every week, which consumers can buy and sell. Users can also list their own wearables and sell them on the secondary marketplace.
Genies is a new platform that sells digital wearables in the blockchain. The platform will allow celebrities and the general public to sell collections of these wearables on the marketplace. The service will also periodically run challenges that allow users to unlock special wearables. The new platform is expected to launch in the third quarter of this year. The companies have not disclosed financial details of the deal.
The Genie marketplace will begin by focusing on Genie avatars and digital wearables. As the ecosystems evolve, they will include tools for virtual worlds and interactive experiences. The creators of these products will own the intellectual property and commercial rights. They will be able to sell or buy their products without the hassle of negotiating with sellers.
The marketplace is powered by Flow, a blockchain that connects consumers to other users. The platform also features an avatar creator platform that enables users to create their own avatars. The app also allows users to create limited edition items for celebrities. The wearables can be sold in the marketplace and users can share them with their friends and fans.
Conclusion
The new Genie marketplace is collaborating with the world’s largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea. The marketplace will allow users to create, customize, and trade digital goods. The Genie marketplace also has a partnership with Shawn Mendes. The music star is releasing a pair of digital wearables on OpenSea on Friday. The singer will also give away the digital wearables to fans on the openSea platform.
