Artifact Labs mulls more museum collaborations after US$3.25m seed round

Hong Kong-based Web3 and NFT company Artifact Labs is mulling new partnerships with global museums and cultural organisations as it has raised US$3.25 million in a seed financing round. The lead investor is Blue Pool Capital, with Animoca Ventures led by James Ho also participating in the round, according to the release. Artifact Labs will use the funds to support the further expansion of the firm’s operations, with a focus on adding technical headcount.

This comes as Artifact Labs realised that in recent years, the market for collectible and rare items has experienced significant growth, with many people looking to buy, sell, and trade these assets in an efficient and secure manner. However, the market for cultural and historical assets has often been plagued by issues such as fraud, counterfeiting, and lack of transparency.

Meanwhile, the sector has seen dropping engagement and interest among digital-first generations, as museums, galleries, and heritage organisations experience waning engagement with the younger demographic. Artifact Labs believes Web3 business models and blockchain technologies can overcome these obstacles, in particular by leveraging NFT collections.

With the new fund, Artifact Labs will help organisations find new revenue streams that support museums, galleries, and other heritage organisations to continue their preservation work, while building Web3 products and platforms that ensure the immutable protection of valuable assets for collectors and creators alike. 

Furthermore, Artifact Labs will be releasing NFT collections as a revenue stream for preservation organisations, as well as providing customissd metaverse experiences to enrich engagement. The company’s mission to streamline Web3 adoption will also emphasise an easy onboarding process, in order to tap into existing fan communities that have little to no experience with NFTs. 

The firm will also use blockchain technology to help institutions preserve their archives on-chain, as the natural next step in digitisng their collections. Artifact Labs recently submitted an Ethereum Improvement Proposal to that effect: EIP-6596. The proposal outlines the establishment of a new historical metadata standard on the Ethereum blockchain, in order to support immutable metadata as part of the on-chain preservation work. Artifact Labs will continue investing into Web3 to build up technologies that will evolve the digital media landscape. 

“It’s not about creating new IPs for speculation – for example NFT hype projects – it’s about driving new engagement with historically significant collections by using Web3. We want to carve new space in the younger public’s consciousness for historical brands and artifacts. At the same time, each IP has its own existing community. Artifact Labs also wants to onboard them into Web3, so they can explore new ways to connect with the artifacts they love. While supporting these important organisations with new revenue streams to fund their preservation work, we are also solidifying immutable on-chain data preservation through NFTs,” said Phillip Pon, CEO of Artifact Labs.

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“Artifact Labs has developed a very compelling use case for blockchain technologies, and has set in motion a laudable mission of historical preservation. Not to mention, the team proposes a convincing digital revenue stream for culturally important organisations,” said Oliver Weisberg, CEO of Blue Pool Capital.

“Protecting the provenance of historical artifacts is mission critical to protecting our culture. Artifact Labs is taking a leadership role in this domain, through its innovative integration of blockchain technology, and their newly proposed EIP-6596, which we believe will be an important standard for museums and custodians of culture going forward. The team at Artifact Labs are passionate innovators in both Web3, and we at Animoca Ventures are proud to support them in their exciting and most important mission,” said James CK Ho, head of Animoca Ventures. 

With its origins as a proof-of-concept project piloted by The South China Morning Post, Artifact Labs is now a fully formed and independent business. The firm has partnered with major cultural organisations such as RMS Titanic, Hong Kong G.O.D. brand, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, with many more already in the pipeline.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Artifact Labs for more information.

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