NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zoop, the digital celebrity collectibles trading platform built on the Hedera network, created by RJ Phillips and Tim Stokely, alongside other key team members responsible for turning Onlyfans into a billion-dollar unicorn, announced today a partnership with two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis to participate in the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City from February 17 - 19.
The NBA All-Star Weekend previews Zoop’s official global platform launch this Spring, featuring some of the most influential names in music, sports, and entertainment. The platform takes the traditional social media model and turns it on its head by removing passive engagement and offering fans a way to communicate directly with their favorite creators. Fans can collect each creator’s individual cards and become part of their community to gain access to exclusive content and experiences. Furthermore, through the power of augmented reality and the Hedera blockchain, with support from The HBAR Foundation, Zoop bridges the gap between the physical and digital worlds, inviting fans and creators to connect in the white space between the traditional web and web3.
The multi-faceted partnership will see Davis join Zoop’s highly-anticipated global creator-fan connection platform. The entrepreneur, investor, and NBA All-Star record-holder will join Zoop as an advisor and will become the first celebrity to join the platform. Davis will be immortalized as a digital collectible trading card, rendered in Zoop’s signature artistic style, and the card will be made available through Zoop’s online platform. Fans can buy, sell, and trade Davis’ card through the platform, unlocking exclusive content and access to real-life and virtual events and activations.
“Connecting with the community that has supported me through my career and business endeavors is incredibly gratifying - it’s one of the reasons I look forward to the NBA All-Star Weekend and BIG Summit each year,” said NBA All-Star Baron Davis. “RJ and Tim at Zoop have designed an intuitive platform that allows me to communicate directly with my fans, and I look forward to working with them on this exciting launch.”
Zoop’s Co-CEO RJ Phillips will also speak at the Business Inside the Game Summit, Davis’ event that features panels, summits, and immersive activations with today’s most prominent names in tech, business, sports, and beyond. Phillips will speak on the panel “Sports Lifestyle Inside Culture, New Wave,” on Saturday, February 18, at 3:25 pm, at the Edison House Inside Speakeasy Lounge. The panel will be on bridging the gap between web2.5 and web3 and the evolving relationship between celebrity athletes and fans. He brings a wealth of knowledge from decades of experience leading operations at some of the foremost creator-fan-based connection platforms.
“There are few groups as passionate as sports fans, who closely follow their favorite players and teams on and off the court,” said RJ Phillips, Co-CEO of Zoop. “Zoop was founded to help fans build real connections with their favorite athletes and creators. We are thrilled to partner with Baron to bring his engaged community to Zoop and participate in an event as beloved and well-attended as the NBA All-Star Weekend.”
Attendees can also experience Zoop through an immersive augmented reality video booth installed at The Leonardo Museum. A mobile device powered by Zoop’s partner MetaverseME app will allow booth visitors to view the exclusive Zoop avatar of Baron Davis and capture a video with the NBA All-Star that can be shared directly to social media channels or saved to a gallery for sharing at a later date. In addition, the booth will be outfitted with a second device screencasting the experience and demonstrating the magic of Zoop firsthand. Visitors to the booth who post a photo with Baron Davis and tag Zoop will receive an exclusive, limited edition card featuring Baron Davis and Zoop branded merchandise while supplies last.
“In advance of the early access launch of our MetaverseME app, we are incredibly excited to partner with Zoop and make our technology available to support Zoop’s immersive installation at NBA All-Star Weekend,” said Martyn Hughes, CEO of MetaverseME. “Zoop is a dream partner with an unyielding commitment to enhancing creator community experiences. We look forward to providing our unique interoperable platform to power 3D digital worlds and AR photo and video content for future physical and digital activations. Zoop and MetaverseME are already working on integrating the first Zoop avatars, currently planned for late March.”
Zoop’s partnership with Baron Davis and participation in NBA All-Star Weekend follows a milestone announcement that Zoop had procured $15M in grants and investments and partnerships with leading metaverse-focused platforms. With its upcoming launch, Zoop strives to enhance the web with novel experiences embodied by its officially licensed digital trading cards that provide custom artwork, immersive narratives, and endless possibilities.
About Zoop
Zoop is building an entire ecosystem based on officially licensed celebrity digital trading cards. Fans are easily able to buy, sell, trade, and collect the celebrities and influencers they idolize and admire through cutting-edge blockchain technology. On Zoop, fans can build out their card collections and earn fan rewards with exclusive celebrity experiences while forging communities of like-minded collectors. Zoop cards garner authenticity through official partnerships with an unrivaled roster of celebrities and brands onboard. To learn more visit www.zoopcards.com.
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About The HBAR Foundation
The HBAR Foundation supports the creation of Web3 communities built on the Hedera network, by empowering and funding the builders developing these communities. The Foundation’s six funds - focused on the Crypto Economy, Metaverse, Sustainability, Fintech, Privacy, and Female Founders - each support communities within those areas, and the interconnectedness enables applications to participate as part of a larger ecosystem.
The collective power of these funds enables entrepreneurs, developers, and enterprises of all sizes to tackle some of the world’s largest problems, and create and control their own economies, all built on the Hedera public network. Whether you’re building something new or migrating an existing EVM-based application and community, the HBAR Foundation is here to support you. For additional information, please visit https://hbarfoundation.org.
About MetaverseME:
With ME! at its core, MetaverseME empowers users and creators to explore their digital self through connected experiences. The MetaverseME app, currently available for early access on iOS and Android devices, is free-to-download and provides a gateway to a shared digital world where users can truly express who they are. It provides the tools required to create your one true, digital self, your ME!. The MetaverseME ecosystem allows users to create a digital self (a ME!), style it with various digital fashion wearables, and then take their newly created digital identity to social media and other connected digital experiences within the ecosystem including games such as the in-house developed and upcoming multiplayer football game KickOff Evolution, as well as other 3D worlds developed by or together with partners.
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