Gusto Collective continues growth in Web3 with new round of funding

Gusto Collective has raised US$11 million in its seed plus funding round led by Animoca Brands and Gaw Capital. The funding will support Gusto Collective’s growth in geographic expansion into other parts of Asia; Web3 services and products, and recurring-revenue product development.

The oversubscribed round also received participation from BlackPine, YCI Limited, and several existing shareholders including ClearVue Partners. With the completion of this round, the company has raised US$23 million in cumulative external funding since launching in 2020.

Aaron Lau, Gusto Collective founder and CEO said, "Gusto Collective was founded with the simple idea of helping brands connect with their franchise in the fast-growing world of Asia, whether in the physical world of bricks and mortar, or the emerging world of the metaverse. With the new funding, we intend to move more aggressively into Web3 tech services and expand geographically to bring our BrandTech capabilities to other fast-growth geographies within Asia."

Founded in 2020, Gusto Collective consists of four specialisms in Web3 marketing services, an augmented reality experience platform, a metahuman platform and luxury marketing services. It had several partnerships with other brands before, including wireless operator CSL to create 5G AR experiences through an AR application it created. It also partnered with Phillips Auctioneers on the world’s first real-time generative data art based on auction data. 

The generative yet data-driven NFT artwork Drowning in Love was sold in Phillips’ online auction "My Kawaii Valentine" which opened virtually from 14 February to 22 February 2022.

A minimum of 100,000 data points collected live and in real time from bidding on all lots in the online auction would drive algorithms designed to render MonoC’s creative. During the more than seven days of the online auction. Drowning in Love would be seen as a live tele-cast embedded into the Phillips’ website, from which viewers could witness the work being rendered by unique datapoints as they are gathered. The generative artwork would use live real-time data collected during an online auction.

“Major brands continue to increase their Web3 involvement and capabilities to engage with customers in the open metaverse. Gusto Collective has already proven to be adept at partnering with customers for Web3 and augmented reality services," said Yat Siu, executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands. 

Kenny Gaw, managing partner and co-founder of Gaw Capital Partners, added, "Just like how Web2 revolutionised online marketing, Web3 is the next dimension for brands to further interact and deepen their relationships with consumers. Having witnessed Gusto Collective’s marketing and branding prowess first-hand, we are excited to support the company to bring their marketing and creative expertise into the dynamic and fast-growing Web3 universe.

(Photo courtesy: 123rf)

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