Today marks a significant milestone for mmERCH, the pioneering blockchain-enabled Web3 fashion start-up, as it proudly announces the successful closure of a $6.4 million seed funding round, valuing the company at $25.7 million post-money. Spearheaded by Liberty City Ventures, this financing round saw enthusiastic participation from esteemed investors such as 6529 Holdings LLC, Christie’s Ventures, and Flamingo DAO.
Unveiled to the world by Founder and CEO Colby Mugrabi in late 2023, mmERCH boasts a formidable team comprising visionaries across various domains, including founders, creators, collectors, curators, artists, academics, and authors. This funding triumph coincides with mmERCH’s imminent debut collection slated for release in April 2024. Positioning itself at the nexus of art, fashion, and technology, mmERCH employs generative design to craft what it terms ‘neo-couture’ – an innovative approach aimed at catering to a burgeoning community of enthusiasts. With a steadfast commitment to meticulously curated collections imbued with a playful ethos, digital integration, and an array of tangible and intangible benefits, mmERCH offers a distinctive artistic perspective.
The investment round garnered fervent support from a diverse consortium of luminaries spanning the realms of business, fashion, technology, and crypto. Notable backers include Charles Cascarilla, CEO and co-founder of Paxos; Mike Jacobellis, a prominent Web3 investor; Daniel Maegaard (Seedphrase), an esteemed collector and investor; Karlie Kloss, the renowned American entrepreneur and model; Tory Burch, the esteemed luxury fashion designer and philanthropist; alongside the leading Web3 fashion consortium, Red DAO, among others.
Expressing enthusiasm about the successful funding round, Colby Mugrabi, Founder and CEO of mmERCH, remarked, “We are thrilled to secure the support of such distinguished investors, all of whom share our visionary outlook on the convergence of fashion and Web3. This investment represents a significant stride towards realizing our vision of ‘neo-couture,’ wherein we offer distinctive, one-of-a-kind creations with evolving digital and physical functionalities. Empowered by this latest infusion of capital, we are poised to scale our operations and redefine the future of fashion, where individuality, creativity, and community thrive without compromise.”
mmERCH’s inaugural collection epitomizes the company’s commitment to revolutionizing the fashion landscape by integrating unconventional elements such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology. Each meticulously crafted garment, generated through innovative algorithms, is accompanied by a non-fungible physical counterpart intricately linked to its digital twin on the blockchain. This blockchain integration not only safeguards the authenticity and scarcity of each product but also fosters self-expression while fostering community engagement through a spectrum of forthcoming experiences.
Emil Woods and Murtaza Akbar, founding partners at Liberty City Ventures, expressed their delight at spearheading this seed funding round for mmERCH, commending Colby Mugrabi’s visionary leadership. They emphasized the company’s innovative approach, leveraging AI and blockchain to redefine every facet of the fashion ecosystem. The partnership with mmERCH aligns seamlessly with Liberty City Ventures’ investment ethos of championing supply chain growth in Web3.
The freshly secured funding will be channeled towards fortifying mmERCH’s proprietary technology infrastructure, augmenting its engineering talent pool, and fueling the development of subsequent collections, all geared towards establishing a contemporary brand and platform that reshapes the very essence of fashion.
Dentons, a preeminent global law firm, provided counsel on the transaction, further underscoring the strategic significance of this milestone for mmERCH.