Austin, Texas
The first platform to connect brands with metaverse builders raises $2.5 million and is now live on Polygon.
Next week at SXSW 2022, SandStorm, the world’s largest weekly metaverse event, will debut its live platform and NFT marketplace on Polygon and Ethereum, which will connect the world’s leading brands with the top builders in the metaverse.
The project will enable brands that have little or no metaverse presence to search hundreds of verified builders, explore what’s possible for their business and establish their virtual footprint in web 3.0.
In addition, SandStorm also offers a white glove service to bring brands into the metaverse and build experiences for them within The Sandbox and other metaverses. SandStorm will be the first platform to match leading builders with eager brands and bridge the education gap on what is possible in the metaverse.
As brands like Walmart, Adidas, Disney, Ubisoft, JPMorgan and dozens of others enter the metaverse each month, SandStorm aims to be the most trusted platform for both large and small brands across multiple strategic verticals. These verticals will be featured in the beta platform, set to launch at this year’s SXSW interactive exhibition.
Sebastien Borget, co-founder and COO of The Sandbox, said,
“As a growing number of brands are entering the metaverse through The Sandbox, we’re seeing an increased need for a platform to connect them to builders, agencies, architects, designers, community managers and thousands of providers in this open ecosystem. We’re thrilled to invest in the SandStorm platform, which offers a decentralized solution for matching these needs and additionally providing visibility to projects through meet-ups and social events in the metaverse.”
The layer two technology behind the beta platform seeks to make it possible for builders to mint their best NFTs in VOX and VXM file formats for fractions of a penny.
Unlike other NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea, LooksRare or Rarible, which support art, trading cards and many different categories, SandStorm’s focus is exclusively on metaverse-ready NFTs. SandStorm was the first group to live stream five times per week, directly from their marketplace, providing brands a new way to gain exposure in the metaverse.
Steve McGarry, CEO of SandStorm, said,
“We’ve seen metaverse builders mint everything from skyscrapers and avatars, to custom headphones on the platform already. We’re hyper-focused on the one of one NFTs that take creators weeks to construct. We’re not interested in the 1,000-plus collections.”
The backers
SandStorm closed their $2.5 million seed round this week from an all-star roster of strategic web 3.0 investors including the founder of The Sandbox Sebastien Borget, Fenbushi Capital, Sanctor Capital, The Sandbox, Rarestone Capital, Umbrella Network, MetaStreet, Momentum6, Kerve Capital, GBV Capital, Bitscale Capital, GrowYourBase and Youbi Capital. In addition to key investors, they’ve forged partnerships with The Sandbox, CyberKongz, vEmpire and a handful of other metaverse heavy hitters.
McGarry added,
“We’re thrilled to announce our $2.5 million seed round from all-star investors and launch our beta platform at SXSW this year. There has been an overwhelming demand from the NFT community as we’ve grown organically to reach over three million people each month pre-launch. That said, we have 50 brands along with over 500 builders lined up to get verified, and we’re ready to give the NFT community what they’ve asked for.”
The builder program
Each month since October 2021, SandStorm hosts a contest for builders to showcase their talent. The builder program allows partnered brands to choose a theme, and builders are invited to create and submit their NFTs. Each submission has the chance to win a monthly prize and to be featured on the SandStorm official Sandbox marketplace collection, once voted on by the community.
SandStorm has teamed up with The Sandbox to distribute a whopping 10,000 SAND ($50,000) each month to the winners of their popular builder competition. Through this program, builders can mint their creations on the platform and have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get their best work in front of top brands entering the metaverse.
If you’re a business interested in a self-service platform or a full-service option for entering the metaverse, learn more here.
For more information (press only), contact Steve McGarry.
This content is sponsored and should be regarded as promotional material. Opinions and statements expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of The Daily Hodl. The Daily Hodl is not a subsidiary of or owned by any ICOs, blockchain startups or companies that advertise on our platform. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in any ICOs, blockchain startups or cryptocurrencies. Please be advised that your investments are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility.
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