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HUG, a social marketplace connecting digital art and NFT creators with collectors, has announced the closure of a $5M seed funding round led by DIGITAL, a Web3 investment fund founded by Benjamin Milstein and Mark Daniel, with participation from OKX Ventures, the investment arm of the second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume. Other investors include L’Oréal’s BOLD corporate venture fund, Venrex, Jae Holdings, Cryptology, Samara, and Aa Sons.
CEO Randi Zuckerberg said that HUG is “democratizing access to art and changing how artists get discovered.” HUG, founded in February 2022, will use the investment to integrate market-leading creator-first commerce features with its existing social curation and discovery tools.
NFTs have made art more accessible and helped creatives find, connect and monetize new audiences. However, creators who have embraced NFTs still face challenges managing multiple sales and marketing platforms for both crypto native and crypto curious audiences.
HUG is democratizing access to art and changing the narrative around how artists get recognized and discovered, according to Zuckerberg. The company aims to disrupt the multi-billion dollar art industry by paving new ways for artists and collectors to engage in the future.
HUG offers customizable and shareable profiles for artists to showcase their various collections and social links while making it easier for collectors to discover artists. Collectors are rewarded with HUG Points, which can be exchanged for rewards when they vote on artists they wish to see on the platform, or when they engage directly with creators by leaving thoughtful comments and reviews.
HUG plans to deepen the connection between artists and collectors with functionality supporting that. Soon, artists will be able to post and share updates directly with collectors while turning their profiles into storefronts supporting both physical and digital products.
“We believe that HUG can do for a new generation of artists expanding their business to Web3, similar to how Etsy empowered artisans and craftsmen to find and connect with audiences all over the world at the beginning of Web2,” said Mark Daniel, Managing Partner at DIGITAL.
OKX Ventures Partner Jeff Ren said, “we believe that HUG is leading the way by bridging the gap between NFT utility, art, and the general public.” HUG is already seamlessly integrated with the non-custodial cross-chain wallet of OKX, and additional NFT launchpads and offline events will be added in the future.
HUG is a social marketplace founded by Randi Zuckerberg that allows artists to sell digital and physical goods while connecting them with current and prospective collectors. Through decentralized curation, HUG highlights diverse creators, particularly those from underrepresented and marginalized communities. HUG Studios offers educational and advisory programs for Web3 startup founders and creative entrepreneurs. In November 2022, HUG consolidated the Meta Angels NFT community under its parent company Assemble.