EVERETT, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Funko, Inc. ("Funko,” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: FNKO), a leading pop culture consumer products company, today announced it has acquired a majority ownership stake in TokenWave, LLC, the developer of TokenHead, a leading mobile app and website for showcasing and tracking Non-Fungible Token (“NFT”) holdings. TokenHead is available on iOS and Android, and currently displays over 10 million NFTs and has more than 100,000 visits per day. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.
The investment accelerates Funko’s initial entry into the NFT market and will extend the Company’s pop culture platform to include digital assets. Funko expects to launch its initial NFT offerings in June, featuring a unique property each week at a starting price point of $9.99. Products will be sold on the WAX platform, the leading decentralized wallet on the blockchain, which provides verifiable authenticity for purchases of Funko NFTs.
“Funko is thrilled to advance another platform that our fans and collectors will love and find valuable,” said Brian Mariotti, Chief Executive Officer of Funko. “Our strategy in this space is clear - bring the value-added NFT opportunity to our licensing partners to leverage our broad range of existing pop culture content across Television, Movies, Sports, Music, Anime, Video Games and Comic Books. Our amazing licensing partners are excited about our entry into this new digital space and we believe the diversity of our licensing portfolio sets us up for long-term success.”
“The marriage of digital and physical using WAX’s patented NFT technology known as vIRLs™ is powerful,” continued Mariotti. “Our ability to combine Funko Pop! digital NFTs with exclusive Funko Pop! Vinyl Figures has the potential to be a game changer. By backing the rarest of the Funko NFTs with exclusive redeemable Funko Pop!s, we are poised to enter the NFT market in a very unique manner. Importantly, we plan to make Funko NFTs broadly accessible to our fans by providing affordable entry pricing. Utilizing WAX Blockchain technology, we have the opportunity to eventually bring Funko collectible NFTs to our millions of fans around the globe. The NFT world is all about content, and Funko has been connecting fans to the content they love for over 20 years.”
About Funko
Headquartered in Everett, Washington, Funko is a leading pop culture consumer products company. Funko designs, sources and distributes licensed pop culture products across multiple categories, including vinyl figures, action toys, plush, apparel, board games, housewares and accessories for consumers who seek tangible ways to connect with their favorite pop culture brands and characters. Learn more at https://www.funko.com/, and follow us on Twitter (@OriginalFunko) and Instagram (@OriginalFunko).
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the market for NFTs, our strategy for Funko NFTs, the value of our licensing portfolio in the NFT market and our investment in TokenWave, LLC. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: risks related to the impact of COVID-19 on our business, financial results and financial condition; our ability to execute our business strategy; our ability to maintain and realize the full value of our license agreements; changes in the retail industry and markets for our consumer products; our ability to maintain our relationships with retail customers and distributors; our ability to compete effectively; and the potential for our electronic data or the electronic data of our customers to be compromised and other cybersecurity risks. These and other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
