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Web3 is a hyper-evolutionary space, where each year brings a decade’s worth of progress. So where is the puck heading? In this article, we take a look at four companies we think are ahead of the curve.
RTFKT (pronounced “artifact”)
What do they do?
RTFKT creates one-of-a-kind digital goods, and is one of a small handful of cryptonative firms that can be fairly described as designer brands. In other words, their success is based on solid talent, rather than raw meme power.
The brainchild of Benoit Pagotto, a gamer with a background in the worlds of fashion and marketing, the company originally made its name in digital sneakers. A pair inspired by the Tesla Cybertruck sold in late 2020 for $35,000, following a publicity stunt involving a doctored photo of Elon Musk himself (who, with good grace, lent his assistance by retweeting the photo).
The firm was acquired by Nike in December last year. With the launch of the Nike-branded Cryptokicks in April, sneakers remain a core part of the RTFKT offering. Its broader remit remains, to use Nike’s words, “to deliver next-generation collectibles that merge culture and gaming”. In other words, it sees its role as more about world and community building in the metaverse than simply manufacturing digital goods.
This is reflected in its ever-expanding offering. Users can customize and upgrade their digital footwear by acquiring Skin Vial NFTs. This is combined with the introduction of CloneX avatars, and Space Pods, or 3D locations in the metaverse where owners can gather to interact and appreciate their creations, as well as decorate and personalize these spaces for added ownership.
What sets them apart?
The team has been persistently early to the party, beginning their work in the years before NFTs became the new hot thing in town. This is an advantage in a space where 90% of actors operate on a purely opportunistic basis. They also have the kind of diverse skillset – coding, e-sports, fashion – to provide a sustainable edge over teams with more lop-sided talent pools.
Yuga Labs
What do they do?
Despite being closely associated with the extraordinary success of the Bored Apes Yacht Club NFT collection, the story of Miami-based Yuga Labs is far from being one of dumb luck. The BAYC was from the beginning rooted in a genuine ‘lore’ (a community of futuristic, disaffected crypto millionaires), as well as the solid intuition that a genuine opportunity existed for NFT technology beyond eye-watering price appreciation.
Following this intuition, Yuga has sought to justify the value of its products by leveraging utility, community, and exclusivity, in a variety of creative ways, not only adding to the richness of its in-game universe (BAKC, MAYC) and laying the ground for a functioning meta-economy (ApeCoin) but also providing its users with real-world rewards and events (treasure hunts, yacht parties).
Commercially, also, it has consolidated its gains wisely, acquiring nearest competitors CryptoPunks and Meebits, scoring commercial partnerships with the likes of Adidas and Universal Music, and securing a financially (and reputationally) significant injection of $450m from investment firm Andreesen Horowitz, preparing the ground for its all-out entry into the Otherside Metaverse project this year.
What sets them apart?
Many critics dismiss Yuga’s success thus far as lucky and/or unsustainable. By this argument, the firm should have been knocked out of the game long since. An equally plausible explanation is that the team understands the game better than most. Prioritizing and protecting their community is not altruism, but simply preserving the long-term source of a Web3 platform’s value. While the troubled launch of the Otherdeeds auction was embarrassing, the infinite canvas of the Otherside metaverse may well provide the space to continue to innovate indefinitely.
Mozverse
What do they do?
Every (sentient) corporate executive is trying to figure out how to get into NFTs and the meta-economy. Not only is this an immense, disruptive, and high-cost task to contemplate, finding the talent is at this stage still a major problem.
Mozverse is an NFT and Web3 technology development company that helps bridge the gap between non-cryptonative businesses and the emerging meta-economy. Its flagship product NFT Marketplace provides a turnkey, customizable route to market for firms who need to start selling NFTs now, but do not want to risk losing control of their brand or the customer experience by trusting to the OpenSeas and Raribles of the world.
Mozverse also offers advanced solutions for larger enterprises looking to create more bespoke Web3 products and services, through a combination of customized technical development, APIs, and proactive execution from its blockchain development team.
For firms looking to take the next step and actually take up a presence in the metaverse, there is Mozverse Platform. This, similar to the Marketplace solution, is a plug-and-play virtual world that companies can optimize to their precise requirements, even down to the physical laws (users can walk, fly) and conditions (maximum decibel level can be adjusted area by area).
What sets them apart?
Despite the massive opportunity and pressing need for ‘bridging’ solutions to fill the chasm between the corporate mainstream and the Web3 frontier, there are relatively few solutions in this space, and virtually none besides Mozverse that offer an equivalent level of ease-of-use (a factor all too easily overlooked). With additional products (DIY Smart Contracts, NFT Generation Kit) also in the works, it also represents a constantly evolving basket of solutions, rather than a one-trick-pony. This versatility is perhaps the most characteristic of all for any firm operating in the field of blockchain technology.
RMRK (pronounced “remark”)
What do they do?
Hailing from the Web3 Foundation community, founder Bruno Skvorc believed that the world needed better NFT infrastructure before it could see better NFTs (i.e. NFTs 2.0: sophisticated functionality and long-term utility, rather than short-term meme value).
The RMRK project is a collection of so-called ‘NFT legos’, which together enable a creator to build sophisticated products that work across chains. The enhanced functionalities offered include the ability to nest NFTs within other NFTs, program digital goods to evolve in line with changes in the environment, and even to be fractionalized into community-governed DAO structures.
Users will be able to access these tools via the Singular marketplace, an NFT launchpad based on the Kusama chain. This is also home to the Kanaria, a collection of NFT birds that showcase the potential of the lego-like functionality afforded by the RMRK project. For example, Kanaria birds feature an array of ‘slots’, which can be used for storing gems and other accessories.
These are simply the first steps towards a full metaverse, in which the RMRK token is used to mine assets or rent/buy space, and Kanaria NFTs themselves can be staked in order to receive in-game resources.
What sets them apart?
RMRK is taking the effective but difficult route of predicting the future by creating it. The next iteration of the NFT market is undoubtedly going to depend on the ability to provide enhanced utility in a metaverse setting, and hence graduating beyond ‘dumb’ NFTs is a must. While it’s not certain which companies will succeed or fail in their attempts to win in this new game, the solid infrastructure that underpins them – if it is built as well as RMRK appears to have been – can’t lose.
Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while pursuing his post-graduation major in blockchain development. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing, along with coding. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing skills, and a reliable craft at explaining the concepts such as blockchain programming, languages and token minting. He also frequently shares technical details and performance indicators of ICOs and IDOs.
