PIP Labs, the company behind Story Protocol, has successfully announced an $80 million Series B funding round, led by one of the most prominent venture capital funds in the cryptocurrency space, A16z Crypto.
The company revealed that to date, it has managed to raise a total of $140 million, which will help build one of the most promising protocols in the blockchain industry and digital ecosystem.
According to PIP Labs, Story Protocol will revolutionize intellectual property (IP) tokenization, providing valuable new capabilities and tools for creators to power the next generation of artificial intelligence, decentralized finance (DeFi), and consumer applications.
With its recent funding round, the company highlighted that it would lead the development of Story Protocol to address challenges related to IP management. This investment highlights both the potential of the new protocol and the growing appeal of large investors to innovative solutions that promise to revolutionize the way IP is managed and monetized in the digital age.
Story Protocol’s innovative vision to transform intellectual property
Story Protocol’s vision is ambitious: converting intellectual property into liquid, programmable and sovereign assets. In early June, its developers explained that the new protocol was designed to tokenize intellectual property, which “is the largest asset class in the world.” They pointed out that intellectual property, whether it’s AI models, memes, game assets, character traits, and more, is an asset class of immense value that remains untapped and inaccessible to the general public.
Thus, through the Story protocol, PIP Labs is looking for provide a streamlined infrastructure for intellectual propertyenabling creators and users to unlock the true potential of intellectual property as an extremely valuable asset class.
“By symbolizing creativity, Story is ushering in a digital renaissance. In short: what Bitcoin did to money, Story is doing to intellectual property.the company stressed.
The “Legoland” of Intellectual Property
In a world where creativity and innovation are essential, the ability to tokenize intellectual property will allow creators to monetize their works more effectively and efficiently. According to Seung Yoon Lee, co-founder and CEO of PIP Labs, the goal is create a “Legoland of intellectual property”where intellectual assets can be remixed and monetized across multiple platforms and applications.
As artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content becomes ubiquitous, the need for a system that ensures creator ownership and rights becomes critical. Story Protocol will deliver a solution that not only protects creator rights, but also streamlines the licensing process and royalty distribution. This innovative approach is designed to eliminate the friction that has traditionally existed between creators and intermediaries, allowing artists and developers to collaborate more transparently and productively.
A16z Crypto Leads Series B Funding Round
PIP Labs’ recent $80 million funding round was led by A16z Crypto, one of the world’s largest venture capitalists. This is a testament to the growing interest in the potential of Story Protocol.
A16z is known for its bold investments in startups and Web3 projects, and its involvement in Story Protocol underscores its confidence in the company’s ability to transform intellectual property management. Chris Dixon, Managing Partner of A16z Crypto, noted that the protocol has the potential “to become the infrastructure that allows AI systems and creatives to happily coexist.”
The funding round also included other notable investors such as Polychain and digital art collector Cozomo de’ Medici, demonstrating broad support within the crypto community. As mentioned above, this investment will allow Story Protocol to expand its infrastructure and continue developing its blockchain technology, which is specifically designed to manage the complexity of intellectual property in the digital world.
A blockchain for intellectual property management
Story Protocol is built on a Layer1 blockchain that treats intellectual property as a first-class citizen. This means that IP assets become programmable blocks, ready to be used in various applications. This structure allows creators to register their work as IP assets, generating a record on the blockchain that secures their ownership and facilitates licensing.
The technology behind Story Protocol includes a “Proof of Creativity” protocol, which enables programmable features for IP, such as permissionless licensing and automatic royalty payments. This not only simplifies the process for creators, but also opens the door to new monetization opportunities. For example, AI models can be registered as IP assets, allowing developers to license large volumes of data at low cost, which is essential for training AI models.
“By building the global IP blockchain, Story is bringing the immense value of IP to Web3, transforming it into a liquid, accessible and programmable digital asset.”noted PIP Labs.
This means that users can use intellectual property as programmable blockchain assets, which can be traded, distributed and integrated into thousands of digital applications.
Intellectual Property in the Digital Age
As the world moves toward a digital economy, Story Protocol appears well-positioned to lead the charge in IP tokenization. With over 200 teams working on platform development, representing over 20 million IP assets, the company is building a robust ecosystem that promises to democratize access to IP.
Overall, this protocol provides an infrastructure that will allow AI creators and developers to coexist and thrive, transforming intellectual property into a liquid and programmable asset, while facilitating the monetization of creativity and fostering collaboration between creators and business platforms. With all this, Story Protocol will revolutionize the way intellectual property is managed and monetized, opening up a world of possibilities in the digital age.
