Digital collectibles platform Terra Virtua announced Nov. 4 that it had completed a $2.5 million private funding round, attracting support from funds such as Woodstock, NGC Ventures, and AU21 Capital.
The investment raised will be used to further develop what the company describes as the first “mass-market” nonfungible token, or NFT, ecosystem.
Aside from being a marketplace for provably rare digital collectibles, the platform has a strong focus on the social side of the fandom scene. As such it provides a number of customizable virtual spaces where users can show off their digital collections of NFTs, including in-game items, artworks, movie, music and sports memorabilia.
Terra Virtua also has the support of partners such as Paramount Pictures, Legendary Entertainment and Unreal Engine, and has already signed deals for intellectual properties, or IP, such as Top Gun, Lost in Space and The Godfather.
While the possibilities of NFTs have been making waves in cryptocurrency and especially blockchain gaming circles for some time now, they are yet to create a significant splash in more mainstream markets.
However, consumers are now more comfortable with digital ownership of items, thanks in large part to the mp3 revolution in the music industry and the iTunes era which followed it.
So could an ecosystem of digital collectibles disrupt the $62 billion fandom and merchandise market, attracting the ComiCon crowd to the blockchain party into the bargain? Terra Virtua founder Jawad Ashraf certainly thinks so:
“Imagine exclusive Game of Thrones finale merchandise available only during the episode. If you could grab exclusive team merchandise when a player hits a home run. Merchandise that becomes available at a concert during specific performances. Owning action figures that come to life — these are the types of things you will experience from Terra Virtua”
