United States, April 4, 2021 /AlexaBlockchain/ – Funko, Inc., a leading pop culture consumer products company, has acquired a majority ownership stake in TokenWave, LLC, the developer of TokenHead, a leading mobile app and website for showcasing and tracking Non-Fungible Token (“NFT”) holdings. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.
TokenHead is available on iOS and Android, and currently displays over 10 million NFTs and has more than 100,000 visits per day.
Funko NFT Collectibles
Funko is planning to extend Funko’s pop culture platform to include digital assets on the Blockchain.
Beginning in June of this year, Funko expects to launch their initial collectible NFT offerings using WAX’s blockchain platform, which ensures verifiable authenticity for all NFT purchases. WAX’s unique vIRL technology will enable Funko’s physical collectibles to be owned and traded as digital items with added value.
At a starting price point of $9.99, pop culture fans will be able to purchase packs of NFTs featuring Funko’s unique stylizations. Collectors who score ultra-rare Funko NFTs will also be able to redeem those NFTs for exclusive, corresponding physical Funko figures. Collectors can look forward to a new unique Funko property to be released on the WAX platform each week.
“We are excited that Funko plans to utilize the WAX blockchain and WAX vIRLs with NFTs that are directly linked to physical products,” said William E. Quigley, co-founder of WAX. “WAX offers the safest and most convenient way for Funko to enter the NFT market and for collectors to expand their assortments with digital assets.”
Why does it matter?
The investment will accelerate Funko’s initial entry into the NFT market and will extend the Company’s pop culture platform to include digital assets.
“Funko is thrilled to advance another platform that our fans and collectors will love and find valuable,” said Brian Mariotti, Chief Executive Officer of Funko. “Our strategy in this space is clear – bring the value-added NFT opportunity to our licensing partners to leverage our broad range of existing pop culture content across Television, Movies, Sports, Music, Anime, Video Games and Comic Books. Our amazing licensing partners are excited about our entry into this new digital space and we believe the diversity of our licensing portfolio sets us up for long-term success.”
“The marriage of digital and physical using WAX’s patented NFT technology known as vIRLs is powerful,” continued Mariotti. “Our ability to combine Funko Pop! digital NFTs with exclusive Funko Pop! Vinyl Figures has the potential to be a game changer. By backing the rarest of the Funko NFTs with exclusive redeemable Funko Pop!s, we are poised to enter the NFT market in a very unique manner. Importantly, we plan to make Funko NFTs broadly accessible to our fans by providing affordable entry pricing. Utilizing WAX Blockchain technology, we have the opportunity to eventually bring Funko collectible NFTs to our millions of fans around the globe. The NFT world is all about content, and Funko has been connecting fans to the content they love for over 20 years.”