[Funding alert] Metaverse NFT startup Ikonz raises seed round from Woodstock, Village Global backed by Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg

Indian metaverse and NFT startup Ikonz has reportedly raised a seed round of an undisclosed amount from distributed ledger technology (DLT) VC firm Woodstock and early-stage VC firm Village Global, which is backed by the likes of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Reid Hoffman.

Polygon Studios also participated in the round.

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.

The NFT startup is essentially a wealth-building platform that supports IP owners, artists, and other established icons to manage their digital assets and participate in virtual worlds in a safe and protected manner.

"Woodstock has been incredibly supportive of us, and so have Village Global and Polygon Studios. In fact, Village Global is bullish on Asia and India, and after they understood how popular Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle are in India, it certainly helped. Village Global liked what we're doing and they moved quickly," Ikonz CEO Abinav Varma Kalidindi told The Decrypting Story.

The startup also works with Indian brand owners to help distribute the IPs by choosing the right partners. This way, Ikonz aims to become a one-stop-shop for IP owners looking to dabble in NFTs.

ALSO READ

Amar Chitra Katha, Suppandi, Shambu in the metaverse? This NFT startup empowers Indian brands to manage, monetise iconic IPs

With 2022 expected to bring more stability and maturity to the NFT market, with many more use cases and applications becoming available for NFT owners, Ikonz is also looking to build its own Indian metaverse and bring stories, characters, and IPs from Indian mythology to the world.

Woodstock Fund, started in 2019 by Pranav Sharma and Himanshu Yadav, is a VC fund that invests across blockchain settlement layers, service and infra, privacy and apps. Woodstock has backed promising blockchain startups such as Elrond, Covalent, Biconomy, NEAR Protocol, and many others.

Village Global is an early-stage VC firm investing in tech founders at pre-seed and seed stages. It is backed by some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs.