RECUR Announces $50M Series A Raise at $333M Valuation
The round is led by DIGITAL, a metaverse investment platform backed by Steve Cohen’s family office. RECUR also announces the launch of NFTU.com, its new collegiate NFT marketplace using exclusive Pac-12 content.
Miami, FL – RECUR, the technology company that designs and develops on-chain branded experiences allowing fans to buy, collect, and re-sell digital products and collectibles (NFTs), today announced its Series A raise of $50M at a $333M post-money valuation, making it the largest Series A in the NFT space. DIGITAL, a metaverse investment platform led by Web3 gurus Mark Daniel and Benjamin Milstein, with financial backing from Steve Cohen’s family office, was the lead investor in the financing. Mr. Cohen will also serve on RECUR’s board as DIGITAL’s initial designated director.
Founded by two leaders in cryptocurrency trading (Zach Bruch) and licensing (Trevor George), RECUR is creating new universes for fans and communities to engage, play and collect NFTs while setting the standard for a decentralized recurring royalty.
“At RECUR, we are building a future where NFTs can be taken anywhere as tokens of personal expression, community membership, and fandom, among so many other use cases. Our goal is to give fans the opportunity to own pieces of the stories and IPs they love, with real value retained across any future chain. Further, we see a future where the standard for a decentralized recurring royalty is embedded, giving the creator due credit as assets are exchanged over and over again.” say co-founders, Zach Bruch and Trevor George.
RECUR is currently scaling out the company’s go-to-market team with over 150+ open roles, including key investments in recruiting, marketing, customer success, design and engineering. Additionally, the newly secured funding will help bring brand experiences to market over the next year.
In addition to DIGITAL, previous RECUR investors include: Defi Alliance, Courtside VC, Volt Capital, Joe Lubin, Gemini/the Winklevoss Twins, Gary Vaynerchuk, Scott Belsky, Hashed, Nascent, Delphi Ventures, JST Capital, Divergence, 640 Oxford, IOSG, CMT Digital, David Choi, Jason Derulo, Scott Lewis and Chris Hermida.
On the heels of the Series A raise, RECUR is also announcing its partnership with leading artificial intelligence technology company, Veritone, Inc, as well as CLC, the nation’s leading collegiate trademark licensing company. As the exclusive content licensing partner for the Pac-12 Networks, Veritone will license RECUR approved Pac-12 moments across all sports available for NFT creation. RECUR and Veritone will coordinate with student-athletes to obtain authorization to use their video highlights, in accordance with the Pac-12 Networks NIL Licensing Program. RECUR is combining these video rights in a separate partnership with CLC to bring certain collegiate marks and mascots to its singular official collegiate experience, NFTU.com.
NFTU is a new marketplace that for the first time will allow sports fans to own the latest and greatest highlights from college sports, starting with the Pac-12. NFTU will be the sole marketplace for these covetable assets, making it an instant staple in the NFT sports world.
“Consistent with the innovative spirit that drives Pac-12 Networks and the Pac-12 Conference, we are thrilled to be leading the way in collegiate sport content licensing for NFTs,” said Pac-12 Networks Senior Manager for Distribution and Licensing Kenden Blake. “This new partnership between Pac-12 Networks, Veritone and RECUR will unlock new ways to deliver the college sports content fans love, now through NFTs.”
“Veritone is at the forefront of advancing technology, and the opportunities we see through NFTs for athletes are endless,” said Michael Arthur, SVP, Veritone Licensing. “Working with an innovative partner like RECUR to make the Pac-12 Networks library licensable through NFTs is another way we are fulfilling our mission to make content more accessible to licensees and generate more distribution opportunities for our international library partners.”
“We are excited to work with RECUR to help deliver officially licensed NFTs to college fans on behalf of our partner institutions,’ said Dave Kirkpatrick, CLC’s VP of Non-Apparel Licensing. “While NFTs can be a complex web of products and marketplaces, we believe the program being developed by RECUR provides an innovative, easy-to-use platform for collegiate collectibles.”
For more information and upcoming announcements, follow RECUR on Twitter @recurforever and visit www.recurforever.com to subscribe. To learn more about NFTU, please visit NFTU.com.
About RECUR
Founded by crypto industry expert Zach Bruch and digital licensing industry pioneer Trevor George, RECUR is a technology company that designs & develops on-chain branded experiences that allow fans to buy, collect, and re-sell digital products and collectibles (NFTs). RECUR will be chain agnostic and is fundamentally changing the NFT market by creating and setting the standard for a decentralized recurring royalty, creating the widest distribution and reach for NFTs minted on their platform.
About Pac-12 Networks
As the content arm of the Pac-12 Conference, Pac-12 Networks is the first and only sports media company wholly owned by its 12 universities. Pac-12 Networks incorporates one national and six regional television networks, plus extensive digital content accessible through social media, university websites, the Pac-12 Now app and newly-launched streaming service, Pac-12 Insider. Each year, Pac-12 Networks offers live coverage of 850 sporting events, making it one of the top live sports producers in the country. In addition, Pac-12 Networks creates extensive original programming, provides visibility for marquee football and basketball events as well as traditionally under-served women’s and Olympic sports. Pac-12 Networks also provides training and paid internships for thousands of students of the Pac-12’s member universities, preparing them for careers in media. With headquarters in San Francisco’s SOMA District, Pac-12 Networks draws on the creative, entrepreneurial and technological culture of the Bay Area and nearby Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit Pac-12.com.
About Veritone
Veritone (Nasdaq: VERI) is a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and solutions. The company’s proprietary operating system, aiWARE™, powers a diverse set of AI applications and intelligent process automation solutions that are transforming both commercial and government organizations. aiWARE orchestrates an expanding ecosystem of machine learning models to transform audio, video and other data sources into actionable intelligence. The company’s AI developer tools enable its customers and partners to easily develop and deploy custom applications that leverage the power of AI to dramatically improve operational efficiency and unlock untapped opportunities. Veritone is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, and has offices in Denver, London, New York and San Diego. To learn more, visit Veritone.com.
About CLC
CLC is the nation’s leading collegiate trademark licensing company with a mission to elevate college brands through insight and innovation. The company is uniquely positioned to deliver consumer connections and brand visibility for institutions through data-based, customized solutions that include impactful licensed merchandise strategies and innovative marketing platforms to navigate the ever-evolving consumer and retail marketplace. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, CLC is guided by values to serve others, build trust, lead well, innovate often, and be passionate. Founded in 1981, CLC is a part of LEARFIELD, the leading media and technology services company in intercollegiate athletics.
Contacts
RECUR Public Relations
Lauren Bishop Jennings
ALISON BROD MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Recur@abmc-us.com
Talar Malakian
Director of Marketing, RECUR
tmalakian@recurforever.com
Veritone Public Relations
5W PR
veritone@5wpr.com
Kristi Labrum
klabrum@veritone.com
Pac-12 Networks Communications
Dena Propis
dpropis@pac-12.org
CLC Public Relations
Tammy Purves
tammy.purves@clc.com
Steve Cohen/DIGITAL Public Relations
Tiffany Galvin-Cohen
Tiffany.galvin-cohen@point72.com