USA – Novel, a NYC-based no-code platform for Web3 commerce, raised $6m in seed funding.
The round was led by Lerer Hippeau with participation from VaynerFund and Rothy’s Co-Founder Roth Martin, and existing investors Sugar Capital, Costanoa Ventures and other strategic partners.The company intends to use the funds to expand its hiring efforts and product development as they continue its rollout of the Web3 commerce tool for brands and creators to leverage within their existing Shopify stores. Co-founded by Roger Beaman, the founder of Smartrr, Anna Merzi, founder of AlgoPay, and Brian Sugar, Group Nine Media President and Founder of Sugar Capital, Novel provides a no-code platform that layers community building and engagement driving functionality, resulting in NFT transactions to match the Shopify experience customers are used to. On the technical side, Novel mints NFTs on the Polygon platform, the most environmentally friendly way to create and sell NFTs while also addressing limitations of the Ethereum blockchain—namely high transaction fees and slow transaction processing speeds. Additionally, each collection dropped through Novel includes a timed reveal process that leverages the security and decentralization best practices of IPFS storage and a provenance record.Launch day partners include brands and public figures across a variety of industries from Everlane to Florence by Mills.05/04/2022
