Randi Zuckerberg's Social Marketplace HUG Raises $5M Seed Funding to Build Creator-First Commerce for Artists (2024)

Social NFT marketplace HUG has announced today the closing of a $5 million seed round led by DIGITAL, a web3 investment fund founded by Mark Daniel and Benjamin Milstein (aka OhhShiny).

DIGITAL’s investment portfolio includes Yuga Labs, Dapper Labs, Recur, MoonPay, and others. OKX Ventures also participated in the round, along with L’Oréal’s BOLD corporate venture fund, Venrex, Jae Holdings, Cryptology, Samara, and Aa Sons, which will help HUG form strategic partnerships and establish a global presence aligned with the web3 ecosystem.

Launched in February 2022, HUG was founded by CEO Randi Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook Live. She was later joined by Singaporean investor and entrepreneur Debbie Soon as co-founder and Chief Growth Officer. HUG will use the funds to accelerate product growth and integrate creator-first commerce features with its existing social curation and discovery tools.

“HUG is excited to be at the forefront of democratizing access to art, and changing the narrative around how artists get recognized and discovered,” said Randi Zuckerberg. “It is great to have the vote of confidence from some of the most seasoned investors in Web3 and consumer technology to deliver a product that will disrupt a multibillion-dollar art industry while paving new ways for how artists and collectors will engage in the future.”

Bringing web2 social elements into web3, HUG currently provides artists with the ability to create personalized profiles that highlight their collections and social media links, thereby facilitating the discovery of new artists by collectors. The platform allows collectors to participate in the curation process by earning HUG points, which can be redeemed for various benefits when they vote for their preferred artists. Furthermore, collectors can earn rewards by actively engaging with creators by leaving constructive comments and reviews.

According to a press release, HUG will be rolling out additional functionality to help artists deepen their connection with collectors. Artists will soon be able to post and share updates directly with collectors as well as turn their profiles into storefronts with support for both physical and digital products.

The platform’s first integrated marketplace will launch this summer, featuring digital art and merchandise from renowned artist and poet Amber Vittoria.

“While NFTs have created new ways for creators to monetize from their audiences, artists and collectors still crave deeper connection and conversation. Similar to how Etsy empowered artisans and craftsmen to find and connect with audiences all over the world at the beginning of Web2, we believe that HUG can do the same for a new generation of artists expanding their business to web3,” said Mark Daniel, Managing Partner at DIGITAL.

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