Alexa Fund leads $20m round for Superplastic 3D studio

Alexa Fund, Amazon’s venture arm, led a $20m round for the 3D studio Superplastic, which had previously released NFTs on Ethereum in collaboration with the fashion house Gucci.

Today, we announce a collaboration with Amazon that spans investment and a first-look deal with Amazon Studios. The Alexa Fund leads our $20 million Series A-4 investment round & THE @JANKY & @GUGGIMON SHOW has been put into development at Amazon Studios. https://t.co/xV7NN3TcZB pic.twitter.com/iCJxKlFFpX

— SUPERPLASTIC (@SUPERPLASTIC) February 15, 2023

Participants in the round included Craft Ventures, Google Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Kering, Sony Japan, Scribble Ventures, Kakao, Animoca Brands, Day One Ventures and Betaworks. The startup has raised a total of $58m.

The animated series featuring the studio’s two virtual celebrities—Janky and Guggimon— is in development at Amazon Studios. The creators describe the toothy rabbit and cat as “lazy and remarkably incompetent best friends,” who are determined to make it in life at any cost.

For the animated characters, the studio uses a refined Unreal Engine from Epic and motion-capture and artificial‑intelligence technologies.

“We are considering the thesis that it is software that can determine the next batch of superstars,” said Alexa’s director Paul Bernard.

The virtual characters have millions of followers on social media. They first rose to fame in 2021 when Superplastic unveiled its NFT collection at Christie’s. According to the storyline, the duo “crashed into” the auction house, triggering an explosion and the appearance of nearly 14,000 digital collectibles.

The total sales volume of the Cryptojankyz collection on OpenSea since launch составил 9,770 ETH (~$16.5m). The Headtripz series posted 2,063 ETH ($3.5m) over the year, and the NFT released in collaboration with the fashionable брендом Gucci, accounted for 6,388 ETH (~$10.8m).

According to Superplastic founder and CEO Paul Budnitz, NFT sales have become for the studio a “significant and unexpected additional source of income.”

In 2022, the total value of Ethereum NFT operations amounted to $23.7bn.