ApeCoin for All? Co:Create Raises $25M to Help NFT Projects Launch Tokens

Non-fungible token (NFT) startup Co:Create has raised a $25 million seed round to help NFT collections launch their own tokens, the company announced Tuesday.

The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with participation from Gary Vaynerchuk’s VaynerFund, Packy McCormick’s Not Boring Capital, Amy Wu and RTFKT.

The startup uses its “factory method” protocol to generate customizable tokens and treasuries for participating projects, allowing royalties to be paid out in that native token with a decentralized exchange (DEX) swapping method, according to a press release.

“We want the NFT to do more than just sit in your wallet, in a thoughtful way that makes it a utility and not a security,” Tara Fung, CEO of Co:Create, told CoinDesk in an interview. “I think we need more guidance from the SEC and other regulatory bodies. I'm hopeful that in the future we'll get more clarity and less ambiguity.”

The push for token-tied NFTs comes in the wake of ApeCoin’s ongoing success, which is the token tied to Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT collections.

ApeCoin (APE) launched in mid-March, with a portion airdropped to NFT holders of various Yuga Labs collections.

Following some early price volatility, the token now sports a nearly $3 billion market cap. Yuga Labs used the token for its recent “Otherside” land sale, which priced NFTs tied to virtual plots of land exclusively in ApeCoin for its initial sale.

Co:Create says it’s already in talks with a handful of prominent NFT collections that participated in the seed round and are eying token launches of their own in the style of Yuga Labs’ ApeCoin, with partnership details to be announced individually in the coming months.