Autograph Announces $170M Series B Funding Co-Led by a16z and Kleiner Perkins

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Autograph, the Web3 brand pioneering a new era of digital experiences, today announces the closing of a series B funding totaling $170M co-led by a16z and Kleiner Perkins.  This comes on the heels of Series A financing in July 2021 co-led by 01A and Velvet Sea Ventures.

The Series B round announced today also includes investments from Lightspeed Partner Nicole Quinn and Katie Haun's firm, and a follow up infusion from 01A.  With this latest round of capital, Autograph will continue to scale its NFT technology with the world's most iconic sports and entertainment partners, bringing the power and possibilities created by Web3 to the mainstream.

As a key part of this next chapter, Autograph has added significant expertise to the brand by appointing prominent new board members: Katie Haun (who leads her own firm), Arianna Simpson (General Partner at a16z), Ilya Fushman (Partner at Kleiner Perkins). Chris Dixon (General Partner at a16z) will join the board of advisors alongside current members 01A partner Dick Costolo and Velvet Sea Ventures' partner Michael Lazerow. They join an active and experienced board that includes co-founders and co-chairmen Richard Rosenblatt and Tom Brady, CEO Dillon Rosenblatt, as well as Eddy Cue, Sam Bankman-Fried, Adam Bain, Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd, Peter Mattoon, and Michael Meldman.

Since its launch in July 2021, Autograph has already seen significant success with NFT collection drops featuring Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Naomi Osaka, The Weeknd, Simone Biles, Tony Hawk, and Derek Jeter, as well as offerings from entertainment partners such as Lionsgate and Slam Magazine.

"Autograph has truly shown itself to be a rocketship in the past six months. Their NFT platform is delivering digital experiences that excite mainstream consumers, not just the crypto community," said Arianna Simpson, general partner at a16z. "The company is becoming a magnet for top talent, and I'm delighted to join the Board to help Autograph bring exciting new NFT experiences to the mainstream."

"We're in the midst of an exciting moment in the evolution of the next generation of the internet. The benefits of being an early adopter of web3 products and services as a creator or a consumer are real but there have historically been significant barriers to entry for most people," said Katie Haun. "Autograph has assembled a world class team that understands how to build trusted, delightful product experiences that will accelerate the mainstreaming of crypto."

"The team at Autograph is committed to innovation, and partnering with new exciting entities to create collectibles and experiences that allow fans to grow closer to icons across verticals," said Ilya Fushman, Partner at Kleiner Perkins. "I'm excited to join the board of directors and partner with this team at the forefront of the NFT space with a long-term vision that will broaden access to the decentralized technology ecosystem for creators and consumers."

The round of investment comes on the heels of several newly-finalized Autograph partnerships that will continue to expand the community at scale - those new partners will be announced soon.

For more information on Autograph, and its latest collections, please visit: www.autograph.io 

About Autograph

Autograph is an NFT platform that brings together the most iconic brands and legendary names in sports, entertainment and culture to create unique digital collections and experiences for users around the world. Notable Board of Director members include Sam Bankman-Fried, Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd, Peter Mattoon and Michael Meldman. Co-founded by Tom Brady and headquartered in Los Angeles, Autograph is ushering in a new era of collecting through a streamlined and inclusive process, authentic and creative products, and exclusive partnerships. Members of the star-studded Advisory Board have dropped their first collection that all sold out in record time with Derek Jeter, Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, Tony Hawk, Tiger Woods and more.

About Andreessen Horowitz

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) backs bold entrepreneurs who move fast, think big, and are committed to building the next major franchises in technology. Founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, the firm provides entrepreneurs with access to expertise and insights in innovation, executive and technical talent, market intelligence, business development, and marketing and brand-building. Find us at www.a16z.com.

About Katie Haun

Kathryn ("Katie") Haun is a leading crypto investor who has recently launched her own firm. She spent a decade as a federal prosecutor focusing on fraud, cyber, and corporate crime alongside agencies including the SEC, FBI, and Treasury. She created the government's first cryptocurrency task force and led investigations into the Mt. Gox hack and the corrupt agents on the Silk Road task force. Katie serves on the boards of Coinbase, OpenSea, and HackerOne and has invested in and advised tech companies from seed to Series E stage. 

About Kleiner Perkins

For five decades, Kleiner Perkins has partnered with some of the most ingenious founders in technology, helping them make history with their bold ideas. Through twenty venture funds and four growth funds, we've invested $10 billion in hundreds of companies including pioneers such as Amazon, Genentech, and Google. Today, Kleiner Perkins continues to invest in founders and their bold ideas helping them to make history. For more information, visit www.kleinerperkins.com and follow us on Twitter @kleinerperkins.

About Lightspeed Venture Partners

Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, and Health sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 400+ companies globally, including Snap, AppDynamics, Affirm, Epic Games, MuleSoft, and Guardant Health. Lightspeed and its affiliates currently manage $10.5B across the global Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in Silicon Valley, Israel, India, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe. www.lsvp.com

Contact:
Caitlin Sawyer
[email protected]

SOURCE Autograph