Web3 media startup Proof secures $50 million in its Series A

PROOF, the Web3 media firm behind the Proof Collective NFT membership club and valuable Moonbirds NFT collection, announced a $50 million Series A funding round to support its anticipated new NFT launch during its Future Proof streaming presentation.

Andreessen Horowitz led the Series A funding round for the Web3 startup co-founded by Digg creator Kevin Rose. Several notable venture capital firms participated in the financing, including Seven Seven Six, True Ventures, Collab+Currency, Flamingo DAO, SV Angel, and VaynerFund.

The current investment follows a $10 million seed round announced in April by Seven Seven Six, the VC firm of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, following the hot Moonbirds launch.

Today we announced PROOF has raised a $50 million Series A led by @a16z crypto with participation from @sevensevensix @trueventures @Collab_Currency @FLAMINGODAO @svangel and @garyvee. More info here https://t.co/h3Bq0BjL6B

— PROOF (🥃,🦉) (@proof_xyz) August 30, 2022

During the community live-stream event, the company’s top executive revealed that the secured funds would be used to help launch the anticipated new Moonbirds digital collectibles and an exclusive social platform for all NFT collectors. Proof’s token initiative will be fully revealed in Q1 2023.

“We are well aware that the world does not require another speculative token,” Rose explained. “So, when we do something, we want it to be uniquely ours, with real utility, and to push what’s possible in new and exciting directions.” Why else would we be doing it? There’s simply no reason.”

Proof will also launch Moonbirds spinoffs

Proof also revealed plans to release a Moonbirds spinoff collection called Moonbirds Mythics in early 2023, spanning 20,000 NFTs. Mythics is the startup’s third NFT profile picture project, following Moonbirds and the recent Oddities spinoff.

Unlike Moonbirds, the new Moonbirds Mythics collection will have a hand-drawn look, according to early samples shown during the stream. Proof will launch with a model that allows Moonbirds owners to “nest” (or effectively stake) their NFT in exchange for a Mythics NFT reward. In exchange for a Moonbirds Mythic, Oddities owners can also burn (or destroy) their NFT.

An NFT is a blockchain token that serves as proof of ownership for digital goods such as profile pictures, artwork, and collectibles. Moonbirds is one of the most valuable profile picture projects on the market, with more than $588 million in secondary sales since its April launch, according to CryptoSlam data.

Proof will also place the original Moonbirds NFT artwork entirely on-chain, eliminating the need for the Ethereum project’s smart contract—that is, code that executes predefined instructions—to call any external servers. If a Moonbirds NFT owner also has a Proof Collection NFT pass in the same wallet, a unique backdrop behind the owl avatar will be enabled automatically.