Highstreet, a Vancouver, BC-based commerce-centered metaverse with a decentralized finance marketplace for limited-edition products, raised $5m in funding.
The round was led by Mechanism Capital, NGC Ventures, Palm Drive Capital, Cherubic Ventures, Jump Trading, GBV, Panony and Shima Capital. Community builders and influencers such as Encrypt Club, Mr. Block and Mai Fujimoto, also known as Miss Bitcoin, participated as well.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its engineering team, especially on the Unity side, to enter all the features in a sustainable commerce-based metaverse living in the blockchain. Mobile and browser companion apps will be released in the market sooner, allowing users to access the metaverse anywhere.
Founded in 2015 by Travis Wu and Jenny Guo, Highstreet is a commerce-centric metaverse accessible on browsers and native PC VR. Highstreet World consists of explorable islands, with residential areas and various phygital products (digital assets pegged to real-world products) sold as nonfungible tokens. A key feature is Highstreet Market at the center of Highstreet City, which is a marketplace for redeemable limited-edition products, with every item having a physical equivalent.
The company has two subsidiaries, LumiereVR Studio and Retinad Analytics, which were acquired in 2018. LumiereVR’s computer vision team used mixed-reality experiences that turned underutilized real estate into immersive brand activations while Retinad Realite Virtuelle added built-in eye-tracking consumer insights.
FinSMEs
18/08/2021