- Royal, the music tokenization platform launched by DJ and entrepreneur Justin “3LAU” Blau, closed a $55 million Series A funding round on Monday, CoinDesk confirmed.
- A16z led the round, which also included participation by Coinbase Ventures and the performers, The Chainsmokers and Nas.
- “In addition to their audacious vision, what makes this founding team so unique is 3LAU’s firsthand experience as a musician paired with JD’s exceptional track record as a repeat founder and startup operator,” a16z general partner Katie Haun wrote in a blog post.
- The funding comes less than three months after Royal raised a $16 million seed round. Paradigm and Founders Fund each invested $7 million in this earlier funding, securing board seats for their respective general partners, Fred Ehrsam and Keith Rabois.
- Royal slices up song royalty rights into crypto tokens that anyone can buy and trade.