LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dew Drops, the direct-to-consumer curated art platform bringing exclusive digital collectibles to SMS, today announced its $1.5 million pre-seed round, led by boutique venture incubator, Dream Ventures. The platform seamlessly bridges art and technology through familiar SMS communication to deliver artists and collectors the trust, safety, and security of Web3. With a focus on simplifying art and artist discovery, Dew Drops offers a meaningful channel for artists to find an attentive audience of collectors.
The recent seed round drew support from notable venture funds and technologists, including: Dream Ventures, VaynerFund, Polygon Technology Fund, Ruttenberg Gordon Investments, and Slow Ventures. Dew Drops will use the resources to further develop its novel platform, add top talent to the team, and introduce passionate art collectors to digital collectibles.
“Dream Ventures views digital art as an area of limitless potential for both creators and collectors,” said Sam Simmons, Partner at Dream Ventures. “Dew Drops will be at the forefront of this renaissance in their dedication to making digital art collecting more accessible to the everyday consumer through improved curation, creation, and discovery. We’re excited to support them in that effort.”
Digital artwork production continues to ascend, but the art discovery process remains a primary point of contention for art lovers and collectors. According to the 2023 UBS & Art Basel report, 66% of new art collectors prefer to use mobile devices for art discovery as opposed to traditional galleries – primarily leveraging social media. However, scouring social media to discover artwork is a strenuous and time-consuming task for art collectors. Conversely, artists are hard-pressed to find viable avenues to share their artwork with a curated audience of art collectors.
“Our core mission is to make art collecting fun, accessible, and approachable,” said Jeremy Levitan, Co-founder & CEO of Dew Drops. “Dew Drops aims to enable users to find the art that speaks to them, without the technical hurdles. By creating a direct line to collectors, artist work gets the respect and attention it deserves. We want collectibles to be seen as beautiful treasures, while upholding the promise of Web3 through security, provenance, and verifiable ownership.”
As the first text-based, e-commerce platform built on top of RECUR’s full-stack platform, RECUR Builder, each purchase is made on-chain, but with the user experience of traditional online retail. Dew Drops delivers a seamless onboarding process for collectors – preserving the elements collectors love about Web3, while eliminating its technical barriers by leveraging SMS communications. Dew Drops will send out a text message with that day’s offering to registered users – detailing information on the artist, the artwork, associated utility, rarities, and pricing. Users simply reply with the number of digital collectibles wanted to purchase the artwork.
In conjunction with its raise, Dew Drops is unveiling renowned animator and digital pop artist, Bryan Brinkman, as the first artist to launch an art collection through the novel text-to-collect platform. Bryan’s work spans Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show as an animator, and has amassed more than 1,000 collectors of his NFTs. His artwork has been featured at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, and his collectors include the likes of Pranksy, J1mmy.eth and WhaleShark.
“While minting experiences and platforms have drastically improved in the past years, discoverability is still the hardest aspect for artists,” commented Bryan Brinkman. “I believe we can lean on both human and AI curation to help people discover artwork they connect with. Building a dedicated community demands consistently engaging with collectors. For most of my life, I’ve spent my time making digital art and animations, creating content for social media, and collecting art. With this space, I can combine all of those interests and I can make art, sell art, and collect art.”
Brinkman, the platform’s inaugural artist, will invite Dew Drops subscribers to collect an exclusive and dynamic piece of original art via text message on Thursday, June 8, 2023. Sign up for SMS alerts, access to the curated drop, and all future drops via dewdrops.co.
To learn more about Dew Drops and to stay up-to-date on the latest artist drops, please visit: dewdrops.co. Join the conversation on Twitter, and follow along on TikTok and Instagram.
ABOUT DEW DROPS
Dew Drops is a digital collectibles company operating in the world of art and technology. Founded by Jeremy Levitan and Martin Holzner, Dew Drops offers curated daily drops of digital collectibles via SMS to a diverse range of collectors. Dew Drops is committed to making the joy of creative expression accessible to everyone, everywhere through innovative technology.
