VentureBeat reports: “Veteran game investor Jon Goldman has raised a $50 million venture capital fund dubbed Tower 26 to invest in extended reality startups. The firm will invest in virtual reality games and related areas like the metaverse, the universe of virtual worlds that are all interconnected, like in novels such as Snow Crash and Ready Player One.”
VentureBeat reports: “Brands planning to sell NFTs in 2022 face stiff competition and rising holder expectations. Some successful NFT projects like World of Women offer utility-focused NFTs to holders with real-world value. Some have partnered with motion designers, musicians or 3D artists to stand out.”
Digiday reports: “As game developers realize the marketing potential of individual content creators, they are investing in programs and platforms to help creators turn their pastimes into businesses. Last month, game developer 2K announced the second class of its NextMakers initiative, a training program that gives a selected group of gaming creators privileged access to the company’s intellectual properties and professional network.”
Music Business Worldwide reports: “TikTok parent ByteDance has reportedly launched a new music streaming service in China, called Qishui Yinyue. That’s according to the South China Morning Post, which reports that the app was launched last month. ByeDance’s entrance into the music streaming sector in China marks the arrival of a new challenger to music platforms run by tech giants Tencent Holdings and NetEase.”
TechCrunch reports: “Six months ago, Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S. by volume, announced that it was launching an NFT marketplace, but provided few details as to when it would actually arrive. Fast forward to today: “Coinbase NFT” launched its beta mode with collections of NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “The audio giant will handle direct ad sales for the podcast and make it available on Spotify’s advertising marketplace, the Spotify Audience Network. Fantasy Footballers will also join Megaphone, the podcast hosting company that Spotify acquired in 2020 for $235 million.”
Variety reports: “The latest tumble came after Netflix posted a Q1 loss of 200,000 subscribers and projected that it will lose another 2 million subs in Q2, prompting a wave of analyst downgrades. Netflix shares have shed more than 60% of their value over the last six months.”
TechCrunch reports: “While the digital asset industry has brought in some skeptics over the past couple years, investors are hoping that crypto startups can push traditional firms into blockchain infrastructure. BlockApps has raised $41 million in a new funding round to continue its expansion into the enterprise blockchain space, the company’s President and CEO Kieren James-Lubin exclusively told TechCrunch.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “Similar to other generative NFT art collections like CryptoPunks and Bored Apes, which include profile pictures of the aforementioned characters with a variety of different features, the Deadfellaz project has 10,000 different NFTs of the collection’s zombie characters.”
Variety reports: “The France-based streaming service Deezer, which has a relatively low profile in the U.S. but is one of the world’s largest streamers, is merging with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with an eye toward going public at a $1.13 billion valuation, the companies told the Wall Street Journal.”
