Key points
- Story’s Series B funding round led by a16z amounts to $80 million.
- The company aims to combat intellectual property theft by giving creators control over their intellectual property.
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PIP Labs, the software company behind Story Protocol, a Layer 1 blockchain designed for intellectual property management, announced Wednesday that it has secured $80 million in a Series B funding round led by a16z, with participation from Polychain. The round values PIP Labs at $2.25 billion and brings Story’s total capital to $140 million.
Story was developed with a mission to transform the way intellectual property (IP) is handled in the digital age by making it programmable. The company stated that it seeks to tokenize the $2 trillion IP asset class, turning it into “IP Legos” – a framework for on-chain programmable IP assets.
The protocol aims to solve the problem of big tech companies profiting off of creators’ content without fair compensation, said Seung Yoon Lee, co-founder and CEO of PIP Labs. The goal is to empower creators, unlock new monetization opportunities, and foster a more collaborative and equitable digital ecosystem.
“Big Tech is stealing intellectual property without consent and cornering all the profits,” Lee said. “First, they will seize your intellectual property for their AI models without any compensation in return. Then, they will hijack your future economy by sucking up all your potential traffic.
“Story will ensure a sustainable and flourishing path for creativity on the Internet that benefits both creators and AI, without intermediaries,” he said.
According to Lee, the platform allows creators to build communities of fans who can remix, distribute, and sell their intellectual property. Creators can declare ownership and set usage conditions for their intellectual property, creating new revenue streams through IP licensing and remixes.
Story is designed to work seamlessly with AI, allowing for easier licensing and compensation, the CEO added. Jason Zhao, co-founder and chief product officer at PIP Labs, described Story as a “Legoland of IP,” where IP can be easily remixed and recomposed.
Discussing the potential of Story, Chris Dixon, Founder and Managing Partner of a16z crypto, said that the traditional internet economy is changing due to AI, and Story Protocol is providing the tools needed for a new, fairer model where creators are rewarded for their contributions.
“Blockchains are perfectly suited for large-scale economic coordination, and Story’s platform ensures that creators are compensated for their intellectual property that powers AI systems,” Dixon said.
Story is preparing for the launch of its mainnet, scheduled for later this year. The development is based on the Cosmos SDK and is compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine.
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