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Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
With plans to sell thousands of NFT avatars, augmented reality (AR) startup Jadu is betting gamers will want to own and invest in personal video game characters.
At the end of August, the Los Angeles-based company will sell 11,111 robot avatars, called AVAs, which can be used as playable characters on Jadu’s upcoming mobile app. The NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, will also come with commercial rights, meaning holders could—hypothetically—slap a character’s likeness on a t-shirt and sell it.
The avatar sale is the latest step in Jadu’s quest to build an AR gaming platform that lets players roam the real world with their NFT avatars. The startup raised a $36 million Series A round in May to work on the concept.
NFTs are digital assets that can have their ownership and authenticity verified using blockchain technology. The much-hyped tech has been most commonly applied to digital art and collectibles, but gaming companies have also tried integrating NFTs into their virtual worlds. That has given gamers unique digital items to play with, while giving gaming companies a new revenue stream. In the future, avatar accessories could potentially be transferred from one game to another, too.
This idea has faced significant backlash. Some gamers and developers call NFTs in gaming exploitative and unfair, and Microsoft’s “Minecraft” recently announced it would no longer allow NFTs to integrate with the game. Microsoft subsidiary Mojang described NFTs as "digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion.”
In an interview with Venture Beat, Jadu founder and CEO Asad J. Malik said he “completely agree[s] with the gamer community’s critique of NFTs.”
“We are not a traditional gaming company,” Malik told the news outlet. “We are fundamentally an AR company and our mission is always to bring new forms of AR to the people in ways that are very experiential and immersive. We are about building forms of AR that haven’t existed before.”
Jadu has been developing an AR mobile app that connects to players’ Ethereum (ETH) wallets, letting them turn 3D animated NFTs into playable avatars. The app can integrate avatars from NFT collections such as CyberKongz and FLUFs.
Jadu has also sold avatar accessories like jetpacks and hoverboards as NFTs. The startup earned more than $5 million from initial NFT sales, Malik previously told dot.LA, and collects a 5% commission on the roughly $25 million in secondary sales those NFTs have done to date on platforms like OpenSea.
The company’s own avatars will be up for sale on Aug. 30, for 0.222 ETH, or about $365 at press time. All of the proceeds will go toward a “community treasury” aimed at expanding Jadu’s IP. The treasury, governed by Jadu AVA holders, will fund member events and projects, such as movies or music videos using their NFT characters.
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
When avatar startup Genies raised $150 million in April, the company released an unusual message to the public: “Farewell.”
The Marina del Rey-based unicorn, which makes cartoon-like avatars for celebrities and aims to “build an avatar for every single person on Earth,” didn’t go under. Rather, Genies announced it would stay quiet for a while to focus on building avatar-creation products.
Genies representatives told dot.LA that the firm is now seeking more creators to try its creation tools for 3D avatars, digital fashion items and virtual experiences. On Thursday, the startup launched a three-week program called DIY Collective, which will mentor and financially support up-and-coming creatives.
Similar programs are common in the startup world and in the creator economy. For example, social media companies can use accelerator programs not only to support rising stars but to lure those creators—and their audiences—to the company’s platforms. Genies believes avatars will be a crucial part of the internet’s future and is similarly using its program to encourage creators to launch brands using Genies’ platform.
“I think us being able to work hands on with this next era—this next generation of designers and entrepreneurs—not only gets us a chance to understand how people want to use our platform and tools, but also allows us to nurture those types of creators that are going to exist and continue to build within our ecosystem,” said Allison Sturges, Genies’ head of strategic partnerships.
DIY Collective’s initial cohort will include roughly 15 people, Sturges said. They will spend three weeks at the Genies headquarters, participating in workshops and hearing from CEOs, fashion designers, tattoo artists and speakers from other industries, she added. Genies will provide creatives with funding to build brands and audiences, though Sturges declined to share how much. By the end of the program, participants will be able to sell digital goods through the company’s NFT marketplace, The Warehouse. There, people can buy, sell and trade avatar creations, such as wearable items.
Genies will accept applications for the debut program until Aug. 1. It will kick off on Aug. 8, and previous experience in digital fashion and 3D art development is not required.
Sturges said that the program will teach people “about the tools and capabilities that they will have” through Genies’ platform, as well as “how to think about building their own avatar ecosystem brands and even their own audience.” 
Founded in 2017, Genies established itself by making avatars for celebrities from Rihanna to Russell Westbrook, who have used the online lookalikes for social media and sponsorship opportunities. The 150-person company, which has raised at least $250 million to date, has secured partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to make avatars for each music label’s entire roster of artists. Former Disney boss Bob Iger joined the company’s board in March.
The company wants to extend avatars to everyone else. Avatars—digital figures that represent an individual—may be the way people interact with each other in the 3D virtual worlds of the metaverse, the much-hyped iteration of the internet where users may one day work, shop and socialize. A company spokesperson previously told dot.LA that Genies has been beta testing avatar creator tools with invite-only users and gives creators “full ownership and commercialization rights” over their creations collecting a 5% transaction fee each time an avatar NFT is sold.
“It's an opportunity for people to build their most expressive and authentic self within this digital era,” Sturges said of avatars.
The company’s call for creators could be a sign that Genies is close to rolling out the Warehouse and its tools publicly. Asked what these avatar tools might look like, the startup went somewhat quiet again.
Allison Sturges said, “I think that's probably something that I'll hold off on sharing. We will be rolling some of this out soon.”
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
Renate Nyborg is out as CEO of Tinder, less than a year after taking the helm of the popular dating app. Nyborg's exit is one of several management changes at Tinder announced by the parent company Match Group.
Tinder's plans to adopt new technology, including virtual currencies and metaverse-based dating, are also being reconsidered in the shake-up. These projects may be scaled back or canceled altogether as the company focuses on more traditional dating.
In an August 2, 2022, letter to shareholders, Match Group chief executive Bernard Kim announced Nyborg’s departure. He wrote that Tinder’s “current revenue growth expectations for the second half of the year are below” Match expectations “as a result of disappointing execution on several optimizations and new product initiatives.” Then continued on to say he’d made changes in management and the structure of the executive team that he felt confident would “help deliver Tinder’s full potential.”
Nyborg leaving is just one of several noteworthy changes happening as Kim says he’ll be “fully embedded within the team at” Tinder’s Los Angeles headquarters “to oversee business progress until the search is complete.” In addition, multiple recent projects are getting a second look after Match Group’s shares dropped by 20% on news the company missed second-quarter expectations and its outlook was weaker than expected.
Kim also told shareholders that there were “mixed results” from testing in-app digital currency Tinder Coins, so the company will be reexamining “that initiative so that it can more effectively contribute to Tinder’s revenue.”
According to Kim, Tinder will also buck a more significant trend across various industries and step away from the metaverse. “I believe a metaverse dating experience is important to capture the next generation of users,” Kim wrote in the letter to shareholders, but “given uncertainty about the ultimate contours of the metaverse and what will or won’t work, as well as the more challenging operating environment,” the team working on a Tinder metaverse initiative was instructed to “not invest heavily in metaverse at this time.”
The news for Tinder users isn’t all bad—the app recently brought back its “desk mode” feature, which lets users look for matches from their computers and even hide the app as an innocent-looking tab if surfing while at work.
Per Match Group's fourth-quarter results, the company’s revenue increased 12% year over year in the second quarter of 2022. The firm, which also owns Hinge, OkCupid, and Plenty of Fish, is looking at third-quarter profits of up to $800 million, but that still falls below Wall Street expectations.
Renate Nyborg addressed leaving Tinder in a LinkedIn post, writing that she has “loved every moment” of her time there but was looking forward to her “first true break in 16 years, starting with a few weeks in nature with my very own Tinder match.”
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
LA Tech Week—a weeklong showcase of the region’s growing startup ecosystem—is coming this August.
The seven-day series of events, from Aug. 15 through Aug. 21, is a chance for the Los Angeles startup community to network, share insights and pitch themselves to investors. It comes a year after hundreds of people gathered for a similar event that allowed the L.A. tech community—often in the shadow of Silicon Valley—to flex its muscles.
From fireside chats with prominent founders to a panel on aerospace, here are some highlights from the roughly 30 events happening during LA Tech Week, including one hosted by dot.LA.
DoorDash’s Founding Story: Stanley Tang, a cofounder and chief product officer of delivery giant DoorDash, speaks with Pear VC's founding managing partner, Pejman Nozad. They'll discuss how to grow a tech company from seed stage all the way to an initial public offering. Aug. 19 at 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Santa Monica.
The Founders Guide to LA: A presentation from dot.LA cofounder and executive chairman Spencer Rascoff, who co-founded Zillow and served as the real estate marketplace firm’s CEO. Aug. 16 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Brentwood.
Time To Build: Los Angeles: Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) hosts a discussion on how L.A. can maintain its momentum as one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in the U.S. Featured speakers include a16z general partners Connie Chan and Andrew Chen, as well as Grant Lafontaine, the cofounder and CEO of shopping marketplace Whatnot. Aug. 19 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Santa Monica.
How to Build Successful Startups in Difficult Industries: Leaders from Southern California’s healthcare and aerospace startups gather for panels and networking opportunities. Hosted by TechStars, the event includes speakers from the U.S. Space Force, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Applied VR and University of California Irvine. Aug. 15 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Culver City.
LA Tech Week Demo Day: Early stage startups from the L.A. area pitch a panel of judges including a16z’s Andrew Chen and Nikita Bier, who co-founded the Facebook-acquired social media app tbh. Inside a room of 100 tech leaders in a Beverly Hills mansion, the pitch contest is run by demo day events platform Stonks and live-in accelerator Launch House. Aug. 17 from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Beverly Hills.
Registration information and a full list of LA Tech Week events can be found here.
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
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