Pplpleasr’s Shibuya NFT Video Platform Raises $6.9M to Build ‘A24 by Web3’

Following its launch earlier this yearShibuya – co-founded by the artist Emily “pppleaser” Yang— announced today that it has raised seed funding to expand it Ethereum NFT powered, interactive video platform and onboarding new creators.

Shibuya raised $6.9 million in a round led by VC heavyweights Andreessen Horowitz and Variant Fund. The round also included participation from notable angel investors including NBA star Kevin Durant, entertainer (and NFT creator) Paris Hilton, Alibaba founder Joe Tsai, and Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov.

Pplpleasr and co-founder Maciej Kuciara, a concept artist on numerous Hollywood feature films, launched Shibuya in March with the first chapter of the original anime series, “White Rabbit.”

Shibuya’s Web3 hook is for viewers to buy NFTs which both funds new content and gives them the ability to vote on the direction of the story across chapters – a sort of choose-your-own-adventure story driven by decentralized governance. While the platform was originally self-funded, crypto and NFTs were the market falls that followed convinced the founders to raise money to press on.

“What became more important to me [than self-funding] was that we can continue to build out this vision, pplpleaser said Decrypt“with that security in mind of being able to focus on what’s important and not worrying about the market.”

Since its launch, Shibuya has added the second chapter of “White Rabbit”, with the third coming in January. The startup plans to use the funding to expand its team as it seeks future creative collaborators to develop more interactive, NFT-powered film projects to debut in Web3.

Pplpleaser, which rose to prominence in Web3 through her NFT artwork for DeFi protocols, said she and Kuciara will be hands-on with the next wave of projects on the platform to ensure quality results. The goal is to “be the A24 of Web3,” she said, citing the cult-favorite indie film studio behind movies like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “Moonlight.”

“Web3 content right now is just bad,” pplpleaser said. “There is a lot of money in Web3 to create content, but there are not many tastemakers.”

Shibuya aims to bring creators who aren’t already immersed in Web3, and the long-term plan is to eventually open up their tools to creators without pplpleaser and Kuciara being so closely involved in the process.

The next chapter of “White Rabbit” will introduce new interactive mechanics, pplpleaser said, adding that the company is always “thinking five steps ahead” in new ways to engage with NFT holders. Shibuya has also recently collaborated with the popular profile picture (PFP) project Azukiwhich allows NFT owners to vote on which character will appear in the “White Rabbit”.

Pplpleasr believes that a decentralized video platform like Shibuya is essential for creatives to break away from the traditional Hollywood machine, and she said that if they didn’t build it, someone else undoubtedly would. Raising funding ensures Shibuya can continue on its path, she said, to help creators monetize their work and involve fans in the process.

“It will enable a lot of creators to start transforming the way content is made,” she explained, “if it’s done right.”