As AI continues to reshape industries, concerns about intellectual property (IP) and the use of data for training AI models have become increasingly prominent. Story, a startup aiming to address these challenges, has announced an $80 million Series B funding round to build a blockchain-based platform designed to help IP owners track and monetize their creations more effectively in the digital age.
Founded by S.Y. Lee and Jason Zhao, Story is developing an “IP blockchain” platform that allows creators to assert ownership, set usage parameters, and license their IP to others in a controlled environment. The platform’s goal is to create a sustainable IP ecosystem that benefits both creators and users by ensuring proper attribution and compensation for original content.
The funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z crypto division, with participation from Polychain Capital, Stability AI’s Scott Trowbridge, K11 founder Adrian Cheng, and digital art collector Cozomo de’ Medici. The new investment brings Story’s total funding to $143 million, with the company now valued at $2.25 billion post-money.
Story’s blockchain-based approach aims to offer a more secure and transparent way to manage IP rights, particularly in an era where AI-generated content is becoming more prevalent. The platform envisions a future where creators can effortlessly license their IP, with blockchain technology ensuring that they are properly compensated whenever their content is used.
While Story’s platform is still in development, the startup has already attracted over 200 teams and registered more than 20 million addressable IPs during its closed beta. Partnerships with fashion design tool Ablo, Japanese comic platform Sekai, and art collaboration startup Magma have helped drive early adoption.
S.Y. Lee, Story’s CEO, brings a wealth of experience to the venture, having previously founded byline.com and Radish, a serialized fiction app that was sold to Kakao for $440 million. Lee’s background in content creation and digital media has informed his vision for Story, which aims to create a more equitable IP ecosystem for creators in the digital age.
The funding will be used to continue building out Story’s platform, with a commercial launch planned for later this year. The startup’s long-term vision is to become the standard for IP management in the AI era, offering creators a way to protect and monetize their work in a world where AI is increasingly shaping the way content is produced and consumed.
Chris Dixon of a16z, who co-led the investment, believes that the rise of AI-powered search engines and social networks is disrupting traditional economic models for content creation. He argues that a new approach to monetizing content is needed to ensure that creators continue to be incentivized to produce original work. Dixon sees Story as a key player in this emerging landscape, helping to build the infrastructure needed to support a thriving market for creativity in the digital age.
As AI continues to evolve, the need for robust IP management solutions will only grow. Story’s innovative approach to using blockchain technology to address these challenges positions it as a potential leader in the space, with the potential to redefine how content is created, shared, and monetized in the AI era.
