Music NFT Startup anotherblock Announces $4.4 Million Raise

(l to r) co-founders Sebastian Ljungberg (CTO), Michel D. Traore (CEO) and Filip Strömsten (COO). Photo credit: anotherblock

Despite the Web3 space’s well-documented funding decline, music non-fungible token (NFT) startup anotherblock has announced the closing of a €4 million ($4.35 million at current exchange rate) seed round.

Stockholm-headquartered anotherblock, which revealed a $2.5 million raise last June and officially launched in August, detailed its latest multimillion-dollar round today via a formal release sent to Digital Music News. Unlike the seemingly insignificant offerings of many competing NFT platforms, according to the company’s website, anotherblock’s tokens are tied to the partial ownership of the tracks’ streaming royalties.

To date, the less-than-year-old “blockchain-based marketplace” appears to have hosted the sale of streaming interests in songs popularized by Rihanna (“Bitch Better Have My Money,” with each token representing 0.0033% of streaming royalties), Offset as well as Metro Boomin (“Ric Flair Drip,” with tokens each consisting of “0.00075% of music streaming rights” on hand), and others.

Now anotherblock intends to use its latest infusion of investor capital to “scale up globally” and “make the product available to a wider range of artists, producers and labels,” according to executives.

London’s Stride.VC (also a backer of Linktree and Daily Motion) is said to have led anotherblock’s $4.35 million raise, and Axwell (real name Axel Hedfors) joined fellow Swedish House Mafia member Steve Angello, who participated in an earlier round, by funding the Web3 operation this time.

“I’ve been following Another Block since the beginning and it’s clear their work aligns with their vision,” communicated 45-year-old Axwell, whose group sold its back catalog to Björn Ulvaeus-founded Pophouse Entertainment in March 2022. “Enabling greater rights flexibility is the future of the music industry. It creates a whole new freedom for creators to share the financial incentives with fans, which is the most important thing we have.”

Meanwhile, Another Block co-founder and CEO Michel D. Traore elaborated in his own comments on the aforementioned expansion plans, specifically revealing a goal to reach potential customers outside the cryptosphere. (The company also counts as co-founders former NASDAQ senior software developer Sebastian Ljungberg, who also serves as CTO, and former SEB higher-up Filip Strömsten, who is COO.)

“Our primary focus in the first year was to educate and prove our product, but going forward it’s about reaching an even wider audience, especially outside of the crypto space, and enabling even more creators to get involved,” former Lendo CEO Traore said in part. “The blockchain ecosystem currently has more active users and greater opportunities to engage them than ever before, opening endless possibilities for the combination of music rights and technology.”

In the shorter term, another block says it is in the process of an NFT for Mims’ “This is Why I’m Hot” (2006), and the drop is tentatively set for Wednesday, June 7. Last week, Swedish “self-service music licensing platform” Freshsound unveiled its own raise of roughly $2.2 million.