Highlight, a no-code toolkit that lets anyone create a Web 3 community with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), is celebrating its official launch with an $11 million seed round led by Haun Ventures, the new crypto-native firm from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) alum Katie Haun. The value was not disclosed.
Haun, a Coinbase (COIN) director and former U.S. attorney, left a16z in December and raised $1.5 billion in March, which she split between an early-stage and "accelerator" fund. Last week, Haun Ventures announced its first investment: a $50 million round for NFT tooling protocol Zora at a $600 million valuation.
"We have a vision to make Web 3 accessible, intuitive and easy for mainstream creators and mainstream fans," Highlight co-founder and CEO Nathaniel Emodi said in an interview with CoinDesk. "As a fan, there's always been the idea of fan clubs. And we think with Highlight and Web 3, you can build the music fan club of the future."
Other participants in the funding round included venture capital firms 1kx, Polygon Studios, Coinbase Ventures, SciFi VC and Thirty Five Ventures.
How Highlight Works
Highlight offers an end-to-end solution for creators who want to build a community without having to know crypto or programming.
With a few clicks, creators can customize the visual look and feel of their community, deploy their own smart contracts on the Polygon blockchain, design and mint NFTs, and then sell or distribute the tokens to fans through a variety of distribution channels. An example would be a musician creating QR codes that fans can use to request or purchase NFTs at live events, Emodi explained. There is also the ability to create token-driven Discord channels, merchandise sales and access to media content.