[Funding alert] UnicornDAO raises $4.5M to empower female, LGBTQ NFT initiatives

Digital art collective UnicornDAO has raised $4.5 million from a wide range of investors, including musicians Sia and Grimes, NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) personalities including Beeple and Gary Vaynerchuk, Indian Web 3.0 firm Polygon, Bored Ape Yacht Club creators Yuga Labs, and more.

UnicornDAO, formed by Russian social activist Nadya Tolokonnikova, is aimed at providing opportunities for NFT initiatives led by women and LGBTQ artists. Tolokonnikova started her activism with band and art collective Pussy Riot.

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Known for their public criticisms of Russia's political and religious leadership, as well as facing the subsequent crackdown of the authorities, the group has garnered global fame, especially on social media.

Tolokonnikova was recently involved in activism in the Web3 space, playing a part in the UkraineDAO which helped raise money for the country's war effort by selling an NFT of the Ukrainian flag for $6.75 million in March 2022.

“Right now, we are focusing on supporting Web3 artists, but down the line, we’d like to work with more traditional art forms as well,” Tolokonnikova told CoinDesk. “All our curators are people who I personally met during the last year of my crypto journey. Our ethos is the same as Pussy Riot’s has been for over 10 years, to bring equality and joy to underrepresented groups.”