NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Superfly, the pioneering creator of the Bonnaroo and Outside Lands music festivals, announced today the launch of SuperNFT™ in partnership with Velvet Sea Ventures (VSV) and Autograph.io to foster new types of communities through next-generation live experiences.
Created by Superfly founders Rick Farman and Rich Goodstone and long-time collaborator Michael Lazerow from VSV, SuperNFT’s Series A investment round was co-led by Velvet Sea Ventures and Tom Brady’s Autograph.io and joined by JDS Sports and Art Blocks founder Erick Calderon, also known as Snowfro, who created the groundbreaking Chromie Squiggle generative art project. Pixel Vault, Inc. founder Sean Gearin (a/k/a/ GFunk), marketing executive Nick Tran, LinksDAO founder Mike Dudas, and his 6th Man Ventures, and Roger Ehrenberg’s Eberg Capital also participated in the round.
SuperNFT’s first event will be the SUPERF3ST™ project, which will mint 3,000 SUPERPASS™ NFTs, giving holders the exclusive opportunity to aid in the event planning as “SUPERF3ST Founders.” This unique approach offers SUPERF3ST Founders, as founding members of the SUPERF3ST community, governance/voting, and input into decision-making about event features, such as musical and artistic guests, art installations, creative activations, culinary experiences, merchandise, marketing, timing, location, etc. Each SUPERPASS NFT represents one vote in these creative decisions about the SUPERF3ST event, along with access to festivals and live events. The SUPERF3ST Founders mint will take place on July 15th.
“SuperNFT’s product is not NFTs or festivals,” said co-founder Michael Lazerow. “Those are just the mediums and tools we plan to use to create the ultimate goal, a deep community of creative souls who want to create the future they envision.”
Leading the company will be CEO Tori Stevens, a 15-year ESPN veteran who directed planning, staging, and business operations globally for the X Games, the world’s leading multi-day, multi-sport action sports events. Superfly founder Rick Farman, Velvet Sea Ventures partner Michael Lazerow and Autograph Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Officer, Ted Russell, will serve on the company’s board of directors.
Other founding team members include Creative Director Caroline Kerr, a vinyl DJ, and long-time artist relations and creative executive, marketing and community chief Corey Nocco of creative agency 11 Ounces, and Lead Artist Donte Neal, a self-taught multidisciplinary artist and respected purveyor of music culture.
“When Mike and Rick first told me about the SUPERF3ST concept, I was in,” Snowfro notes. “The intersection of algorithmic art and blockchain technology empowers Art Blocks artists to release their generative work under a new paradigm for both the artist and the collector. This same shift will power community creativity by working collaboratively to explore new forms of iconic IRL experiences. I look forward to providing creative inspiration to help reimagine the modern festival by putting the artist and collector community at the center.”
SuperNFT represents a dream come true for the Superfly founders, whose Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee pioneered the modern American music festival. Fans came to Bonnaroo to see their favorite bands but stayed connected to the vibrant, always-on community. 25 years and thousands of shows later, Bonnaroo and the other events Superfly founded are known more for their community of fans and friends than the music itself.
The SUPERF3ST project is Superfly’s attempt to once again push the festival world forward by creating a truly decentralized event — one that is inspired by and built by the SUPERF3ST community. The SuperNFT team and investors’ roles are as facilitators and collaborators of the community. Whatever the SUPERF3ST community crafts, SuperNFT will execute at the highest level, on par with the dozens of events already under the teams’ belt.
“Our goal is to launch a truly iconic and historic celebration of music and culture powered by your ideas, creativity, passion, interests, and excitement,” Superfly’s Rick Farman said. “We expect the SUPERF3ST project to be much more than a single annual event. Like Veecon, it will serve as the annual summit for a community of like-minded epic human beings who are proud to call themselves SUPERF3ST Founders.”
Music and art fans interested in becoming SUPERF3ST Founders can mint a SUPERPASS NFT on July 15th. SuperNFT’s inaugural NFT mint will provide the opportunity to obtain SUPERF3ST Founder status. Holding SUPERPASS NFTs will be the only way to influence the SUPERF3ST concept by voting on creative decisions about the SUPERF3ST event. 1 SUPERPASS NFT = 1 vote. Holders of the SUPERPASS NFT also get access to the exclusive SUPERF3ST Discord channel, SUPERF3ST Founder access to the first SUPERF3ST festival, access to SUPERPASS hospitality area at all SUPERF3ST festivals, ability to participate in the festival Field Trip Program, priority NFT ticket minting rights, and SUPERF3ST Founder-only air drops and invites to community events.
“The Web3 space is hungry for transformative events,” Pixel Vault founder and CEO GFunk said. “I can think of no better group than Superfly, Velvet Sea Ventures and the amazing group of creative minds they have brought together to inspire the community to create an epic cultural event while also serving as an important platform for communities like Pixel Vault.”
About Superfly
Superfly is an entertainment and brand experience company obsessed with activating and amplifying communities around common passions and unforgettable moments. Superfly's expertise is building cultural experiences with a distinct identity such as the iconic Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, The FRIENDS Experience, The Office Experience, Prince: The Immersive Experience, BravoCon, and REVOLT Music Summit, that are equally desired by brands and destinations for fans. Superfly delivers brand experiences for clients including Citi, Intel, NBCUniversal, Verizon Media, and CLEAR by blending strategy, insights, creativity, technology, and flawless execution.
Working across sports, music and entertainment, Superfly has been named Global Experiential Agency of the Year by The Drum, and their experiences have been honored by Event Marketer, BizBash, Campaign, and Digiday. Superfly is headquartered in New York. Learn more at http://superf.ly, and follow on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
About SuperNFT™
SuperNFT™ empowers NFT communities to manifest and curate meaningful real world experiences that help transform online interactions into life-long relationships. SuperNFT creates original NFT projects and also helps members of existing communities come together to design and co-create experiences they had previously only imagined. SuperNFT’s first project, SUPERF3ST, is a first-of-its-kind music & arts crafted, curated, and programmed by a community of 3000 co-founders who share a love of music, arts, live experiences, and NFTs. SuperNFT is backed by Velvet Sea Ventures and Tom Brady’s Autograph.io as well JDS Sports, Art Blocks founder and Chromie Squiggle artist Erick Calderon, also known as Snowfro, Pixel Vault, Inc. founder Sean Gearin (a/k/a/ GFunk), marketing executive Nick Tran, LinksDAO founder Mike Dudas, and his 6th Man Ventures, and Roger Ehrenberg’s Eberg Capital.
About SUPERF3ST™
SUPERF3ST™ is a first-of-its-kind music & arts crafted, curated, and programmed by a community of 3000 co-founders who share a love of music, arts, live experiences, and NFTs. Facilitated by Superfly, the creators of Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, SUPERF3ST’s goal is to launch a truly iconic and historic celebration of music and culture, powered by a diverse community’s ideas, creativity, passion, interests, and excitement in summer 2023. SUPERF3ST was created by Superfly founders Rick Farman and Rich Goodstone and long-time collaborator Michael Lazerow from Velvet Sea Ventures who will guide the community with decades of experience as entrepreneurs in emerging technologies and live community events. Additional information can be found on the SUPERF3ST site at https://www.superf3st.xyz/
About Velvet Sea Ventures
Velvet Sea Ventures (VSV) is an operator-led venture capital firm that goes beyond capital to help entrepreneurs turn their visions into reality. Built by a family of entrepreneurs, VSV couples seed-to-growth stage capital investment with hands-on strategic support and guidance. Current Velvet Sea Ventures portfolio companies include Scopely, eToro, Liquid Death, LeoLabs, Autograph, Strigo, SuperRare, Elementus, and Pixel Vault. A full list of portfolio companies can be found here.
About Autograph
Autograph is an NFT platform that brings together the most iconic brands and legendary names in sports, entertainment and culture to create unique digital collections and experiences for users around the world. Notable Board of Director members include Sam Bankman-Fried, Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd, Peter Mattoon and Michael Meldman. Co-founded by Tom Brady and headquartered in Los Angeles, Autograph is ushering in a new era of collecting through a streamlined and inclusive process, authentic and creative products, and exclusive partnerships. Members of the star-studded Advisory Board have dropped their first collection that all sold out in record time with Derek Jeter, Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, Tony Hawk, Tiger Woods and more.
About JDS Sports
JDS Sports is a sports, entertainment, and technology holding company investing at the intersection of content & commerce and in the next frontier of the web. Spanning private equity and venture capital, select investments include: SLAM, Autograph, Dibbs, Buzzer, Aglet, round21, Framework Ventures, and more.
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