Detroit-based technology company RECUR has raised $5 million in seed funding from several crypto currency leaders in what is believed to be the industry’s largest seed-raise to date.
RECUR designs and develops branded experiences allowing people to buy, collect, and re-sell digital products and collectibles, also known as non-fungible tokens or NFTs. The company is set to launch its first set of branded NFT Fan Experiences for global brands this summer.
The raise was led by the Defi Alliance and included investors and funds such as Gary Vaynerchuk, of Courtside VC; Joseph Lubin, founder of Ethereum; Gemini (Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss); Scott Belsky, founder of Behance); JST Capital; Delphi Digital; Volt Capital; Nascent; CMT Digital; Hashed; and more.
RECUR was founded by co-CEO Zach Bruch, a crypto industry veteran, and co-CEO Trevor George, a pioneer in the digital licensing industry. The core team includes President Stephen Teglas, former senior vice president of licensing at Disney; Head of Engagement Chris Heatherly, former executive vice president of games for NBC Universal and senior vice president of games for Disney; and Chief Technical Officer James Seibel, former director of engineering at Poloniex.
According to RECUR, it is fundamentally changing the NFT market by creating and setting the standard for a decentralized recurring royalty. Though assets will default to Ethereum, RECUR ultimately will be chain agnostic creating the widest distribution and reach for NFTs minted on their platform. RECUR believes that NFTs will act as a gateway for the everyday consumer to enter the crypto space, making its opportunity for growth exponential for its partnered brands.
“NFTs will serve as the ultimate gateway for billions to enter the greater crypto ecosystem,” says Bruch. “The future digital world and economy will be decentralized, which we are not only preparing for, but championing. Our NFTs will have the widest range of distribution and incorporate a recurring royalty element in the underlying code itself.”
