Artizen Fund Raises $2.2 Million to Create NFT Cultural Artifacts

Artizen, a Web3 culture-focused crowdfunding platform, announced Thursday that it has raised $2.2 million to help creators fund projects at the intersection of art, technology, science, and design. 

Thursday’s raise included participation from leading Web3 funds, including Consensys Mesh, Animoca Brands, and Protocol Labs, as well as from individuals including Blank Street Coffee’s Dan Hill, PleasrDAO’s Matt Condon, and Juan Benet, founder and CEO of Protocol Labs. 

On Artizen, creators sell so-called Artifacts to fund their projects: unique works of art that live on the Ethereum blockchain and represent the ethos of a project by either teasing at its potential or showcasing a small part of its creation process.

Artifacts holders can also vote to decide what future projects should be featured on Artizen, as all projects on the site are curated by community members. At the end of a given Artizen “season,” the project with the most sold Artifacts receives a cash prize. This season’s prize will be $23,492. 

Current leading projects on Artizen include a digital-to-physical design studio, a short film about the American immigration system, an animated series exploring late-stage capitalism through the lens of a laundromat casino, and a series of 3D animations that investigate feminine gender performance. 

While a number of existing Web3 platforms already offer the ability for creators to sell NFTs to fund projects, Artizen co-founder René Pinnell believes his platform stands out from the rest because Artifacts are distinct and meaningful works of art in themselves, which could rise in value along with the projects with which they are associated. 

“The idea is that these artifacts will appreciate in value based on how much real world impact a project has,” Pinnell told Decrypt. 

While the co-founder does not believe every Artizen project will shape global culture, he’s confident that some will have a seismic impact on history and the world. 

“Some of [these projects] will be as impactful as Leonardo da Vinci, and so people will want to own these Artifacts,” he said.