As both traditional and crypto-native brands begin to embrace tech-related apparel, one of the leading startups behind this trend is:IYK– just announced seed funding to grow it NFT-driven infrastructure.
It also launched a platform to help automate the process for brands looking to add a digital link to fashion and other products.
On Thursday, IYK announced it has raised $16.8 million in a round led by venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Collab + Valuta, 1kx, Lattice Capital, Synergis Capital, Palm Tree Crew and Coop Records.
The round also included notable Web3 makers and entrepreneurs, including Founder of Art Blocks and CEO Erick Calderon, pseudonym Founder of the fashion brand 9dcc, gmoneyand photographer and co-founder of Quantum Art Justin Aversano.
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IYK provides the Near Field Communication (NFC) chips that can be embedded in clothing and other products, as well as the infrastructure to connect them to blockchain tokens, or NFTs. This allows people to scan a connected t-shirt, cap or toy with a smartphone to retrieve a tokenized certificate of authenticity, which can also serve as an access pass to digital content and communities.
The startup has already collaborated with prominent traditional brands such as AdidasAtlantic Records, Billionaire Boys Club and Johnnie Walker, along with crypto brands such as Coin base, MNTGE, Pudgy penguinsand the above 9dcc.
MNTGE co-founder Nick Adler (right) scans an IYK tag in a jacket worn by artist Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann. Image: MNTGE
For example, Adidas released just 512 tokenized t-shirts for the NFT NYC convention earlier this year, using IYK’s NFTs to verify the authenticity of each piece and adding one of eight digital “Alter Egos” to each shirt. MNTGE uses IYK technology to combine the tailored vintage jeans and jackets with digital twins that have potential future utility in online worlds.
And 9dcc, Gmoney’s affiliated clothing brand, has used IYK’s chips not only to authenticate its limited-run drops, but also to power a loyalty program. It launched a digital signature feature with IYK, rental owners of the recent 9dcc x Jeff Staple baseball cap have them ‘sign’ via a smartphone as soon as they are touched – and that signature is forever linked to the Ethereum NFT.
“We’re all about empowering makers to build these digital-physical experiences,” IYK co-founder Ryan Ouyang said Declutter. “These digital experiences have a starting point of a physical action, so owning a product, meeting someone, [or] to be somewhere.”
IYK’s technology is versatile, as are its potential activations.
The chips can be embedded in clothing or other products, or even in wallet-sized cards or placards at events. Once touched with a smartphone, they can potentially unlock access to real or online events, link to exclusive digital content, verify authenticity and potentially much more.
Who made art together with @harvey_rayner x @art_from_code at marfaMESH this weekend? We want to see it.
Share yours and we’ll send the IYK card to our three favorites. pic.twitter.com/rvdPEKZXZ5
— IYK (@iyk_app) September 25, 2023
Ouyang said the IYK platform does not require a smartphone app, and companies do not even need to use IYK’s web domain. Almost any modern iPhone or Android phone can activate the NFC chip, and then brands and creators are free to develop whatever kind of digital content and experiences they want to pair with that exclusive NFT pass.
IYK previously worked with brands in a purely hands-on way, working directly with them to develop and deploy chips and activations.
“That was the only way to use us,” Ouyang said. “You would actually send me an email, and then I would manually set your chips in the system.”
IYK founders Ryan Ouyang and Christopher Lee (from left). Image: IYK
On Thursday, the startup launched the IYK Platform, a self-service model that allows companies to onboard the IYK ecosystem, choose from different NFC chip types and form factors, and complete the order to have the chips shipped.
IYK will still work directly with brands as needed and help develop new use cases for the technology, but the platform is designed to streamline the overall process. Ouyang suggested that the self-service model will allow companies to “get their hands dirty” and experiment, using IYK’s API tools to connect to the infrastructure without manual intervention.
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The startup sees several benefits of this type of technology integration for brands. One of these is the ability to create a community around a brand and reward loyal users with exclusive benefits and rewards. Another is to maintain that ongoing connection with customers even after the initial sale, giving companies more data and insights to work with.
“Hopefully what we can do here,” Christopher Lee, co-founder of IYK, told me Declutter“helps create a better relationship between the consumer and the brand.”