For countless fans across the globe, content creators have become an indispensable part of their online lives. Since these artists are backed by a dedicated network of admirers, an LA startup believes they should be able to interact directly with the fans who support them. More than that, these fans should be rewarded for the amount of support they give. Social media app Calaxy is bringing its vision to life with a new round of growth capital.
Outfitted with $26 million in fresh funding from a round co-led by The HBAR Foundation and Animoca Brands, Calaxy is gearing up to launch its open social marketplace app. The round follows the company’s $7.5 million seed funding raise in 2021.
In addition to allowing fans and content creators to interact with one another, Calaxy’s solution works to help creators achieve financial freedom without the need for third-party entities.
Calaxy’s appearance is reminiscent of legacy social media platforms, but the key differentiator is that the app is structured around Hedera Hashgraph. This decentralized public network acts as an alternative to blockchains and enables Calaxy to perform high throughput transactions with near real-time latency, according to the company. Its goal is to rewrite the standard of how fans and creators interact with a more interactive and equitable framework.
On the app, fans can search for their favorite artists, athletes, stars or creators and purchase custom tokens from them. From here, fans can gain access to unique perks like one-on-one messaging and video calls with that creator or the chance to vote on key decisions like the outfits they wear or what songs they create. Creators are in charge of pricing for tokens, as well as how many are needed to earn rewards. The app also features a subscription service called FanClubs where users are granted unlimited access to creators’ exclusive perks and content.
Alongside its new capital raise, Calaxy announced the appointment of co-founder Solo Ceesay to the position of CEO. Ceesay succeeded NBA athlete Spencer Dinwiddie, the company’s co-founder and now executive chair. Ceesay had served as Calaxy’s COO since 2020.
“My appointment to CEO and the success of this raise is evidence that blockchain is paving the way for greater global equitability, and highlights what can be accomplished as a 27-year-old Black man. Decentralized technology will break the barriers that legacy finance has cultivated,” Ceesay said in a statement.
The protocol the app is built upon, The Creator’s Galaxy, is another source of growth for the company. The Creator’s Galaxy is a decentralized protocol with open-source governance that’s powered by the $CLXY token. It has achieved a total coin market cap of over $500 million thanks to the sale of these tokens — an achievement that will further Calaxy’s growth and the expansion of its ecosystem ahead of its app’s launch this summer.
