📰Press Release

PROOF announces $50 million Series A, unveils new details around its first product, and shares ambitious plans for the expansion of the PROOF ecosystem and community

Los Angeles, California, August 30, 2022 – PROOF is the leading NFT collective, founded by serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist Kevin Rose. Anchored by the success of PROOF’s blue-chip NFT collections — PROOF Collective and Moonbirds — the project has become one of the most exciting NFT brands, known for experimenting with novel mechanics, new models for shared incentives, and ongoing utility. PROOF is working towards a future where NFT collections unlock utility and collaboration across communities, while simultaneously diversifying and connecting the NFT space for artists, collectors, and enthusiasts.

Today, PROOF hosted Future PROOF, a live-streamed community event led by Co-Founder & CEO Kevin Rose, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer Justin Mezell, and Director of Product Harri Thomas, who celebrated the wins of the last six months and shared plans to expand the PROOF ecosystem and its many connected parts. The presentation revealed what’s on deck for PROOF through the end of the year, including support for its CC0 collections, updates on the forthcoming Moonbirds DAO, and PROOF’s third NFT collection: Moonbirds Mythics. PROOF shared new information on the technology behind its consumer web3 platform and announced it has raised a $50 million Series A.

PROOF raises $50 million

Future PROOF provided an exciting look into the company’s plans for thoughtful expansion, highlighting PROOF’s commitment to its existing collections, empowering the creative community, building products with art and artists in mind, and creating valuable tools for web3 as a high-growth tech company. To execute this new phase of development, PROOF announced it has raised a $50 million Series A led by a16z crypto with participation from Seven Seven Six, which previously invested $10 million in PROOF, True Ventures, Collab+Currency, Flamingo DAO, SV Angel, and VaynerFund. “It’s great to have this vote of confidence from some of the most respected investors in web3, as well as capital to keep delivering great products and services as we mature this business over the long term,” said Kevin Rose at Future PROOF.

“We believe that the next generation of massive mainstream media franchises will be community-owned and governed, and PROOF is one of those companies demonstrating just that,” said Sriram Krishnan, General Partner at a16z crypto, “PROOF is an exciting combination of a seasoned team of founders building interesting technology and product experiences with a real focus on community. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Kevin, Justin, and the entire PROOF team to help them develop into a leading web3 company.”

PROOF Web3 Platform

During Future PROOF, the community learned more about the upcoming launch of a PROOF social platform. The platform will connect users, enable community decision-making, showcase collections, and provide valuable data-driven NFT insights. At the outset, the beta launch will enable PROOF Collective, Moonbirds and Oddities holders to create collector-curated galleries. The platform will integrate content and actions specific to the PROOF ecosystem, including research reports, podcasts, DAO proposals, and more. This infrastructure will be the very heart of PROOF and the center of its digital world.

Grails II and exclusive mints for PROOF Collective

PROOF supports artists and collectors in their journey to create and connect through digital art. Future PROOF celebrated the recent success of Grails II, the second iteration of PROOF’s exclusive curated sale for PROOF Collective members. The PROOF team curated a collection of original artworks created by artists whose identities remained hidden until the post-mint live reveal. The NFT artists featured in Grails I and Grails II have achieved a combined $2 billion in total secondary sales volume and a number of their works have been featured at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. To date, PROOF’s Grails I + II collections have garnered more than $8 million in secondary sales. Grails II included works by Refik Anadol, Nadya Tolokonnikova, Justin Aversano and Snowfro, whose Grail #14 is now fetching $30,000 - $40,000 on the secondary market.

PROOF announced Grails will take place three times a year, and shared plans for more member-only mints that will make PROOF Collective a launchpad for outstanding artists— both established and emerging — to share their work.

Removing creative friction through CC0 & Moonbirds DAO

Moonbirds is one of the top performing NFT collections that has achieved over 200,000 ETH in trading volume ($300M+ at current price). Today, PROOF shared exciting developments around its beloved PFP collection, including updates on CC0, the Moonbirds DAO, and plans to put Moonbirds fully on-chain.

Since announcing the adoption of CC0 for Moonbirds and Oddities, PROOF has demonstrated how freeing IP can lead to new creative endeavors and bring more attention to the project. PROOF is shaping how value can be created through new web3 IP models and shared its plans to invest in the long-term success of these collections.

PROOF is creating Moonbirds DAO, which will oversee licensing of the Moonbirds name by granting trademark rights and deploying capital to projects that further the Moonbirds mission. The DAO will control the soon-to-be-formed DAO treasury, which will be bootstrapped with funding from PROOF and receive ongoing support from secondary Moonbirds royalties. In addition, PROOF is building a dedicated business development team that will focus on creating valuable partnerships for Moonbirds and Oddities.

Moonbirds to go on-chain and launch new PFP collection

PROOF announced Moonbirds will be one of the first blue-chip collections to be fully on-chain. The move will ensure NFT artwork is embedded in smart contracts and won’t need to rely on off-chain storage, making Moonbirds accessible for generations to come.

In addition, PROOF announced the first official expansion of the Moonbirds collection: Moonbird Mythics, a 20,000 PFP collection expected to launch in early 2023, with an eye toward giving back to original Moonbird and Oddities collectors.

PROOF token

As Future PROOF came to a close, Kevin Rose revealed perhaps one of the most exciting developments for the project and its community– early plans for a PROOF token. Kevin shared that more details can be expected in 2023, and left the community with a final note on the exciting task ahead, “The world doesn’t need another token for speculation. When we do something it should be uniquely our own, with real utility, something that will push what’s possible in new and exciting directions.”

The Future PROOF live stream can be viewed on PROOF’s YouTube channel. For more information on PROOF, check out proof.xyz and follow @proof_xyz on Twitter.

Media contact: [email protected]