Ayoken raises $1.4M to grow its NFT marketplace for creatives

Pre-seed funding has been raised by Ayoken to enable users to grow their revenue streams through digital collectibles.

The startup will feature digital collectibles from musicians, sports brands and celebrities from all over the world.

The marketplace gives fans and artists a sense of ownership in the success of their idols, according to Joshua King, founder and CEO of Ayoken.

Fans will have access to behind-the-scenes videos and album art through the NFT marketplace. NFT holders will have access to exclusive live events by the creatives.

Fans will be able to stream music by these artists before it is available on streaming services. King has 14 years of experience in strategy, growth and innovation, and entrepreneurship. His career includes helping scale AZA (Bitpesa), a Nairobi-based platform that uses bitcoin to facilitate cross-border remittances, and where he first got introduced to the technology.

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Over the next few months, King said, Ayoken will release NFTs of some major African artists and others across the world.

On the first day of June, the startup will partner with KiDi for his first NFT drop. King said that the cross-chain marketplace is currently built on a platform that allows card payments, but plans to add mobile money as it makes it easier for people in emerging markets to trade with ease. King said they are in talks with a number of telcos to make this a reality.

We are working on partnerships with telcos that will allow people to use mobile money to make the payment in the future too, we are reducing the amount of friction points for the users by letting them use their cards instead of having to use cryptocurrencies to buy things. He said that they are able to sign some of the biggest names in the creative industry because of what they are doing.

When users buy the NFTs or refer people, they will get token rewards, which they can redeem later for an NFT.

King said that they have distribution partners that allow the creatives to reach a wider audience and not just their fans.

This means that celebrities don't have to rely on their social media following to drive transactions. They have access to millions of people around the world at the touch of a button. We have a marketing agency that helps these creatives succeed in their first NFT drops.

Distribution partners will get a revenue share based on any transactions generated from their social media promotions.

The funds raised from the investors include Founders Factory Africa, Texas-based KonVentures, Europe-based venture capital collective Crypto League, and R9C Ventures.

A majority of the funding will go into buying exclusive licenses and building our tech team.

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