SoundMint, described as a “generative platform for music NFTs”, has raised $1.7 million seed round funding.
The round was led by Animoca Brands, the parent of The Sandbox gaming metaverse.
The round also saw participation by Castle Island Ventures, Focus Labs, Sfermion, Sky Vision, Tess Capital, and Goodwater Capital.
SoundMint’s founder and CEO, Andre Benz, is also the founder of the The Nations, a portfolio of curated music YouTube channels that reaches a collective audience of more than 60 million people.
US-based music and media company Create Music Group recently acquired a majority interest in The Nations.
SoundMint says that its NFTs are musical compositions derived from stems, with varying acoustic properties, algorithmically combined to create a set of unique musical art pieces.
The startup reports that its inaugural release between music artist Kloud and visual artist Hooker sold 5,000 copies valued at $2.5 million.
SoundMint says it is using the funds from its new seed round to build an NFT marketplace that will allow artists to create their own music NFTs, create a dashboard for NFT-holding fans, and to release a token, buyback program and ecosystem fund.
The company will also be launching what it calls “SoundMint Vinyl”, an NFT for current holders to redeem in the future.
In January, SoundMint’s lead investor Animoca Brands raised $358m at a $5 billion valuation “to grow the open metaverse”.
Yat Siu, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Animoca Brands, said: “With its mission of fusing the worlds of NFTs and music, SoundMint is trailblazing a new and potentially extremely valuable path in Web3.
“SoundMint shares our vision for NFTs redefining equity and property rights online, and recognizes the commercial advantages that NFTs can provide to musicians in an industry dominated by streaming services and publishers.