Cuvée Collective, a Napa Valley based wine NFT startup, has announced it has secured $600K in funding to create a world-first digital wine ecosystem and community. With backing from Silicon Valley’s sought-after Founder Program Hyper, Cuvée Collective is leading the charge to bring the wine industry to the metaverse. By partnering with iconic and luxury wine brands to create NFT asset ownership, Cuvée Collective is building an exclusive members club for wine and crypto connoisseurs.
Following a year of exponential growth, the crypto industry was valued in excess of $3 trillion USD at the end of 2021 with the NFT market cap representing $41BN USD. Equally, in 2021 gaming has seen unprecedented growth, driving an astronomical $180BN in revenues. This undeniable industry swell, pinpoints the long-term value of strategic metaverse investments. Sitting at the heart of wine, crypto and gaming is Cuvée Collective: a wine NFT community. Hyper selected Cuvée Collective from 2,500 startup applications, recognizing the instrumental role it will play in guiding the wine industry into the metaverse.
‘Wine has a history of being a highly desirable and collectible asset through centuries and civilizations. With Cuvée Collective, the vision is to continue that legacy well into the future, catering to the next generation of metaverse connoisseurs and collectors and future-proofing the luxury wine brands of today.’ says Josh Buckley, Hyper Founder and investor.
Cuvée Collective is pioneering an easily accessible entry point into the metaverse for the wine industry by connecting the value of wine with NFTs.
‘Cuvée Collective is a wine NFT members club. We use the blockchain to create an NFT asset and pair that NFT with casual game mechanics to drive exclusive benefits for our members. The collective will provide physical and digital member benefits that enrich wine tasting experiences.’ said Andrew Allison, Founder and CEO of Cuvée Collective.
Hyper is an early-stage venture firm and its investments are carefully vetted, with only a small number of startups selected to participate each season. Hyper’s investment and platform partners include Andreessen Horowitz, AngelList, Product Hunt, and Sequoia Capital. Selected as one of the first investments of the Spring 2022 season, Cuvée Collective will have access to a mentoring network, partner investors as well as $300K in funding. Cuvée Collective plans to launch across all premiere wine regions around the world over the next decade, starting with wine brands from within Napa Valley, this Spring.
‘Andrew and his team are dedicated to building the next chapter of wine culture, bringing premiere wine brands into the NFT space and Hyper is excited to be a part of such an innovative web3 business.’ adds Buckley.
The time to enter the metaverse is incredibly ripe, with industry legends spearheading the charge. Iconic rapper Snoop Dogg, built a digital estate in The Sandbox, named Snoopverse with promises to create digital recreations of his notorious homes and entertainment venues. With future plans to host exclusive members-only parties and live concerts, Snoop Dogg auctioned off plots of virtual land, enticing crypto enthusiasts to be his neighbor; one plot sold for $450,000. Brands like Adidas, Deadmau5 and Smurfs are also moving quickly into the metaverse to digitize their image.
For the global wine industry, this is the biggest digital step it can take, with Cuvée Collective at the helm, creating a digital community for wine connoisseurs to collect and connect.
For more information check out cuveecollective.com
