Afterparty, an end-to-end NFT platform for creators, announced Wednesday that it raised $3 million in seed financing. Acrew Capital and TenOneTen Ventures led the funding round, which will be used to accelerate the launch of Afterparty’s NFT marketplace.
Afterparty provides creators with tools to mint NFTs and host online events that require crypto tokens for entry. These tools are baked into the company’s Web3 platform, which provides creators with a space to manage their NFT collector relationships. The platform made its public debut last August following a successful beta launch with blockchain giants Ethereum and Deso.
“It’s our mission to give creators not just the tools to pursue their dreams and create a sustainable living, but build a platform that is creator and fan-owned,” David Fields, co-founder and CEO of Afterparty, said in a statement.
On Web3, creators can host exclusive fan events that can only be accessed through creator-launched NFTs. This is useful for creators across a variety of industries, including those working in digital art or music. So far, Afterparty’s client list consists of over 20 early adopters, including indie pop band Echosmith and Tiktok star Bryce Hall.
“I’m always looking for new ways to build deeper, more meaningful relationships with my fans, especially those who have supported me from the start,” Hall said in a statement. “Afterparty has really allowed me to connect with my true fans and build those relationships with them, There’s nothing really out there like it.”
Afterparty bills itself as the first and only opportunity for creators to capitalize on the post-sale value of social tokens and NFTs. Web 2.0 platforms, like Instagram, don’t share any advertising revenue with creators and restrict their monetization abilities, according to the company. But with Web3, Afterparty is working to disrupt traditional monetization models in an effort to return financial power back to creators.
“NFTs are at a critical inflection point where utility and experience around digital assets will take the industry in a whole new direction,” Eytan Elbaz, co-founder of Afterparty, said in a statement.
Afterparty will use the fresh capital to scale its resources in order to prepare for the upcoming launch of its Ethereum and Polygon-based NFT marketplace. Once open, the company plans to host creator events on a weekly basis.
Afterparty is also growing its team. The company plans to hire across its engineering, operations and marketing departments.
“We are at the beginning of a shift for the creator economy with Web3 that is going to be as significant as the impact of broadband internet on Web 2.0—and this is just the beginning of our vision,” Fields said.
