Quick take:
- Blockchain Capital led the seed round.
- The close of the seed round brings Spatial Labs’ total funding to $14 million.
- Spatial Labs’ 25-year-old founder Iddris Sandu is one of the youngest Black men to raise more than $10 million in seed funding.
Spatial Labs, a Web3 infrastructure startup, today announced the closing of a $10 million seed round led by Blockchain Capital. Existing investor Marcy Venture Partners, co-founded by Jay-Z, participated in the round.
Additional investment came from Ron Burkle (co-Founder of Yucaipa Capital, Founder of Soho House group), Scooter Braun (Raised in Space VC Studio), Anthony Tolliver (Former NBA Player, Principal at Wealthlete Private Equity), and Bobby Wagner (Seattle Seahawks linebacker and Partner of VC Studio Fuse Venture Partners).
Following the seed round, Bart Stephens, the founder and managing director of Blockchain Capital, will join Spatial Lab’s board of directors.
The close of the seed round brings Spatial Labs’ total funding to $14 million. It also makes the company’s 25-year-old solo founder Iddris Sandu one of the youngest Black men to raise more than $10 million in seed funding. According to Crunchbase data, only 1% of VC funding went to Black founders in 2022.
Founded in 2020, Spatial Labs is focused on improving the consumer experience. Last year, the company launched its flagship product, LNQ (pronounced ‘link’), powered by Polygon. It is a blockchain-enabled microchip that can be embedded into physical products, allowing brands to integrate loyalty benefits, authentication services, and tracking of their products. LNQ can also unlock digital twins of physical products.
As a proof of concept, Spatial Labs partnered with Polygon in December to release their first official collaboration, ‘Orbs by Spatial Labs’ x Polygon, a double-layered cotton crewneck embedded with the signature LNQ One Chip.
The merchandise features a generative graphic on the front and branding on the back. By scanning the Orb, users can view an exclusive AR experience and gain access to future drops and Spatial Labs + Polygon ticketed events.
The new capital will support efforts to scale and diversify Spatial Labs’ proprietary blockchain-enabled tech stack, deepen the company’s footprint across the consumer goods landscape, and expand into other industries, including media and entertainment. It will also be allocated towards various technical, business, and strategic team development efforts targeting C-Suite executives.
Spatial Labs counts Crocs, Ikea, and Pantone as some of its partners. It has issued about 10,000 LNQ IDs in its testnet phase, and will go live on the mainnet in the coming months.
“By empowering new business models, delivering immersive experiences, and providing insights into consumer needs, Spatial Labs will continue to shape and power the future of commerce and connectivity in Web3,” said Bart Stephens.
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