Proof Collective raises $50 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz 

a16z led a $50 million Series A fundraise for non-fungible token (NFT) organization Proof, a private members only collective of 1,000 dedicated NFT collectors and artists.

Additional participants in the round include Collab+Currency, Flamingo DAO, SV Angel, VaynerFund and Seven Seven Six, the team said Tuesday. Alexis Ohanian’s VC firm Seven Seven Six led a $10 million funding round in April for Proof.

This marks the first a16z investment in Proof, putting it on part with the likes of Yuga Labs and Larva Labs — with the notable distinction of having its two main NFT projects in the public domain. 

Proof is the organization behind both Moonbirds and Oddities and was founded by serial entrepreneur Kevin Rose. Rose announced that Moonbirds and Oddities were moved to CC0, or the public domain, earlier this month. That means the art is now in the public domain and can be freely distributed, augmented and commercialized without the owner’s consent. Proof got push back with people arguing that they had bought into the project believing they had exclusive rights to their NFT, only to have those taken away without prior notice.

Moonbirds are trading at around 13 ETH (about $20,000) today, down from 16.5 ETH on Aug. 8, when the CC0 move was announced.

Proof also said today it is creating a Moonbirds DAO, which will oversee licensing of the Moonbirds name by granting trademark rights and deploying capital to projects that “further the Moonbirds mission.” The DAO will control a soon-to-be-formed DAO treasury.

Proof has also announced a forthcoming NFT project called Moonbirds Mythics slated launch in “early 2023.” Moonbirds Mythics is a profile-picture collection of 20,000 NFTs that have “an eye towards giving back to original Moonbirds and Oddities collectors,” the team wrote.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.