Startbahn Raises $10M for Mission to Protect Artists' Rights With NFTs

Startbahn, a Tokyo-based art-tech company, has completed a $10 million Series B capital raise that will fund growth and development of its Startrail blockchain.

The platform provides traceability of artworks using technology such as non-fungible tokens (NFT). The funding will go toward developing Startrail's infrastructure and certification app, ensuring interoperability with "new-generation" NFTs and accelerating the company's global expansion plans.

See: What Are NFTs and How Do They Work?

The round was led by investment firm Miyako Capital and Edge Capital, the early-stage venture capital arm of the University of Tokyo. Miwa Taguchi, OPS, SX Capital, TBS Innovation Partner, iSGS Investment Works and other investors also participated, per a press release Thursday.

Utilizing smart contracts, Startrail's automatically executing rule sets, including those relating to royalty rights, are designed to protect the intellectual property of artists. The blockchain is able to record the reliability, authenticity and traceability of artworks from provenance, according to the company.

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“We have been working on blockchain projects in the art domain for a long time," Startbahn CEO Taihei Shii said. "Now that we have gained recognition and trust in the Japanese market and [as] the global NFT market continues to develop, I believe that this is the best time for us to expand our ecosystem worldwide.”