NEWS
Genies, the virtual avatar company that makes digital cartoon-style versions of celebrities, can now count Camila Cabello, Paris Hilton and Priyanka Chopra as its latest investors, the company tells Rolling Stone.
The three women are part of Genies’ previously closed $65 million funding round led by venture capitalist Mary Meeker, and Genies CEO and founder Akash Nigam says they represent a portion of the round earmarked for female investors, as Genies looks to be more inclusive in both its investment and company makeup. (Nigam declined to disclose how much the three individually invested.)
Cabello, Hilton and Chopra signed on quickly as the funding round closed within two weeks, and Nigam says Hilton in particular gravitated toward Genies, given her focus on the crypto space and Genies’ place within selling NFTs. All three will have their own Genies developed as well.
Genies develops digital avatars that have artists’ likenesses — and those avatars help advertise and sell digital wearables and collectables fans can buy, typically as crypto-backed NFTs. To date, the company has made avatars for artists including Migos, Shawn Mendes, J Balvin, Justin Bieber, 24KGoldn, Young Thug and Gunna. Genies will also soon be developing avatars for a wider slate of music artists, after it closed a deal earlier this year with Warner Music Group to develop avatars and NFTs for the label’s artists.
The demand for digital merchandise has skyrocketed in recent years — most prominently through video games like Fortnite — where players want to use digital clothes and flares to customize the characters they play. NFTs have the potential to put more value on those types of digital goods since they’re scarce and re-sellable. Digital and collectables will ultimately show their true value as people get more immersed online and metaverses — digital online universes where people can congregate, buy products, play games and do other activities they can do in person now — get more immersive. Music in particular has been an early case study of metaverses’ potential, as artists like Travis Scott and Lil Nas X take to Fortnite and Roblox (companies that both have shown interest in the metaverse) to perform virtual online concerts.
Right now, Genies develops avatars for celebrities to evangelize the product, but further down the line, the goal is for anyone to have their own Genie and be able to sell their own user-generated NFT products. Nigam also wants his Genies to be able to go into metaverses.
Genies is currently readying the launch of its own marketplace and app in partnership with investor Dapper Labs, the blockchain company behind popular pro basketball NFT marketplace NBA Top Shot. That will launch later in the fall or winter.
NFTs have been a buzzy finance story of 2021, thanks to music artists like 3LAU alongside visual artists such as Beeple making millions of dollars selling them. The format quickly spawned a gold rush, but the market has grown saturated as more looked to cash in, and sales have waned in recent months. Even though the boom has stopped, Nigam says, the recent trend has introduced NFTs to a wide swath of users and laid the groundwork to evangelizing them more.
“Most people who learned about NFTs most recently see them as art pieces but that isn’t it, it’s a concept of authenticating true ownership on the internet,” he says. “If you believe we’re going to be more immersed on the internet, you see the value in that. I’d say most people would get a bit of a gut check if they didn’t think we were going heavier online. [The past few months] gave exposure to this world and lifted people’s heads to a space that’s occurring and could be powerful.”
Nigam says that as his company is growing, it’s pushing to shift from being a 60 percent male company to having a majority-women workforce, including at the senior executive level, which Genies is currently hiring for. “We believe that females run culture, and for a product like avatars, that require people to have a pulse on what’s going on in the world and on consumer behaviors, we want to be a predominantly female company,” he says. “That ranges from the VP and executive level to our cap table, which is where Priyanka, Camila and Paris come in. Avatars are about inclusivity, and the ability for diversity in culture to have an impact on product for consumers is important to us.”
Faith No More appear to be hinting at a return to the stage in 2027.
The influential alt-metal band have remained mostly quiet over the past decade following the release of their reunion album ‘Sol Invictus’ in 2015. After its arrival, they played what would become their most recent live performances in 2016 and later called off several touring plans in the years that followed.
Now, however, they seem to be preparing fans for something new. The group recently shared an image of a concert crowd on social media with nothing more than the text “2027” placed across it.
No additional information accompanied the post, but it quickly sparked speculation among fans, many of whom believe a full scale tour announcement could be coming next year.
After wrapping up their 2016 run of shows, the band intended to return to the road in 2020. Those plans were ultimately abandoned because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Further touring plans surfaced in 2021 as venues began reopening, but those dates were also cancelled before they could begin. Frontman Mike Patton later explained that mental health struggles were behind the decision and revealed he had been diagnosed with agoraphobia during the pandemic.
Until recently, a reunion seemed unlikely. Patton spoke about Faith No More’s lengthy break and said that he did not “see it as a sad thing”.
Speaking on the Kyle Meredith With… podcast and reflecting on whether he felt a “sense of closure” after the 2016 tour, the vocalist said: “I didn’t really think so at the time, but, yeah, maybe. I think that we all kind of felt it, but it was unspoken.”
“It’s funny: when you’ve been in a band or a musical situation for a period of time, you always, in the back of your head, you’re kind of thinking, ‘Well, maybe this is it.’ And I don’t mind that feeling,” he added. “I don’t see it as a sad thing. I see it as being present and being able to really appreciate it while it’s happening.”
Faith No More have never formally announced a breakup following the cancellation of their 2021 tour, although other members have suggested in recent years that the chances of touring again were uncertain.
Last year, guitarist Roddy Bottum discussed the band's future and admitted they were in a “really weird spot”. “I can’t really tell you what’s going on. I don’t know myself. I get different information from people… and I’m in the band,” he said.
Drummer Mike Bordin echoed similar thoughts last spring, saying that he and some of the other members were willing to perform again, but claimed Patton was “unwilling to do shows with us”.
In addition to leading Faith No More since 1989 after replacing original singer Chuck Mosley, Patton has also been involved with projects including Mr Bungle, Fantômas, and Tomahawk.
Tomahawk recently unveiled plans for their first tour in 13 years, with a series of US dates scheduled for this summer. The run begins in Nashville next month and will also see Patton and his bandmates reunite with longtime labelmates Melvins for the first time since 2003.
Patton has also recently launched his tour with Avett Brothers and teamed up with Jehnny Beth on the new single ‘Look At Me’.
