IYKa startup that enables brands to equip their products physical products of a NFC chip linked to a NFT to offer new customer experiences and guarantee their authenticityraised 16.8 million dollars froma16z.
IYK combines near-field communication (NFC) technology and the blockchain to tokenize physical objects and “real-life experiences”.
By equipping physical products with an NFC chip powered by IYK, [les marques] are able to offer new experiences while giving customers the ability to identify themselves as the true owner of the product,” says IYK on its blog.
The startup, founded in 2019 in New York, thus enables brands, musicians and creators to offer experiences known as ” digi-fizzy “by merging digital experiences with physical products. Its NFC chipschips, which can be read by any recent smartphone, can be linked to NFT in ERC-721 format on Ethereum and other layers2 including Polygon and Optimism, as well as web links and other content.
To speed up your mission, IYK has just closed a $16.8 million financing round led by US fund Andresseen Horowitz, which had previously welcomed it into its Crypto Startup School incubation program.
Collab Currency, Lattice Capital, 1kx, Palm Tree Crew, Synergis Capital, Coop Records and several business angels also participated in the deal.
IYK already works with major brands, including Adidas, which used its solution to ensure that only 512 copies of its NFT NYC 2023 jersey were sold.
new drip ⛓️@adidas + @indigo_herzpowered by iyk pic.twitter.com/sLCadJSfEb
– IYK (@iyk_app) April 14, 2023
IYK also supplies NFC chips to the Pudgy Penguins project for its physical Pudgy Toys.