Andreessen Horowitz Backed Story Protocol Secures $54M in Funding

Story Protocol, a San Francisco-based startup, has successfully raised over $54 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm, a16z crypto. The company aims to redefine the intellectual property (IP) landscape by offering an open infrastructure layer optimized for the internet era. The project has also onboarded filmmaker David S. Goyer, known for his work on the "Blade" and "The Dark Knight" trilogies, as an advisor.

Democratizing IP Creation

Story Protocol is designed to manage the entire lifecycle of IP development. It offers features such as provenance tracking, frictionless licensing, and revenue sharing. The protocol supports various media forms, including prose, images, gaming, and audio. "In a world of total abundance catalyzed by generative AI, blockchain technology presents the perfect solution for transparent provenance tracking and fair attribution," said Seung Yoon Lee, Co-Founder of Story Protocol.

Ecosystem Development

The project aims to foster an ecosystem of third-party developers who can provide services like crowdfunding, capital formation, IP discovery, and community growth. Its open and modular architecture allows any application to integrate seamlessly, mitigating platform risk for developers.

Industry Support and Participation

The funding round saw participation from a diverse group of investors, including Hashed, Endeavor, Samsung Next, and dao5, among others. "Web3 has the promise to help solve some of the longest-standing problems in the media and entertainment industries," said Sriram Krishnan, General Partner at a16z crypto.

Advisor Onboarding

David S. Goyer, an advisor to Story Protocol, envisions a future where creators have greater control over their IPs. "Story Protocol marks a new era for the entertainment industry and the start of a new ownership model for creators and fans," Goyer said.

Founding Team

The founding team of Story Protocol comprises seasoned professionals with diverse backgrounds:

Co-founder Seung Yoon Lee previously founded mobile serial fiction platform Radish.

Co-founder Jason Levy led content at Episode.

Co-founder Jason Zhao served as a product lead at Google’s Deepmind.

Weilei Yu led growth for Flow blockchain at Dapper Labs.

Leo Chen was the founding VP of Engineering at Harmony Protocol.

Ben Sternberg served as CFO of Radish Media.

Susan Park, a design lead at Google, is also part of the team.