Indian metaverse firm Ikonz has raised seed funding from start-up venture capital firm Village Global and technology investment firm Woodstock.
With the seed round, Ikonz looks to hire tech talent, work on a range of NFT drops, onboard artistic talent, tie-up with more IP partners, and more. Its plans to drop the first NFTs of Suppandi — an iconic character from the Tinkle series — within two months.
Launched in 2021, Ikonz works with Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle and other iconic Indian brands to bring India’s premium entertainment IPs, brands, and stories to the metaverse.
Ikonz is a wealth-building platform that will help IP owners, artists and other established icons manage their digital assets. Kalidindi said Ikonz will act as a 360-degree platform for IP owners, to help them navigate the complexities of the technology, understand the different means of monetisation and upscaling.
NFTs, which are blockchain-based digital assets, saw a huge uptake in trading last year. As per data tracker DappRadar, NFTs clocked more than $23 billion in trading last year, and 2022 has started with at least three NFT sales of over $5 million each. And, while NFTs are yet to take off in India, Kalidindi believes the country will be the next frontier and presents a “huge opportunity”.
The fire being the rapidly growing blockchain segment that has grown from basic crypto solutions, to modern NFTs, and even the upcoming metaverse, and Ikonz ensures all iconic IP owners get a taste of their vast experience in such future technologies.
Ikonz, operating in stealth mode since August 2021, aims to ramp up IP aggression and bring together 50% of India’s premium entertainment IPs under a single banner within 12-18 months. This means going after not just actors, athletes, and other celebrities, but also engaging with social media icons, content producers, and even media houses that specialize in rights ownership.
The Ikonz platform will facilitate collaborations with Global Artists, Brands, and Fashion Designers to work on Iconic IP and have distribution into numerous NFT platforms and Metaverses just with a few clicks. Ikonz has a dedicated advisory panel of experts who have been one of the earliest investors in Blockchain, Crypto, NFT platforms, and other veterans from Virtual Reality, Gaming and Design.
Ikonz is backed by actor-investor Rana Daggubati and Anthill Ventures’ founder Prasad Vanga.
The sales volume of NFTs crossed $27 billion in 2021 according to a Chainalysis report, while in January alone, the number reached almost $7 billion. Last year, NFTs, which are blockchain-based digital assets, saw a huge uptake in trading.
