following his release early this yearShibuya—co-founded by the artist Emily “please” Yang—announced today that it has raised seed funds to expand its Ethereal Interactive video platform powered by NFTs and new built-in creators.

Shibuya raised $6.9 million in a round co-led by VC heavyweights Andreessen Horowitz and Variant Fund. The round also saw the participation of prominent angel investors, including NBA star Kevin Durant, entertainer (and nft creator) Paris Hilton, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, and Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov.

Pplpleasr and co-founder Maciej Kuciara, a concept artist for numerous Hollywood blockbusters, launched Shibuya in March with the first chapter of the original anime series, “White Rabbit.”

Shibuya’s Web3 hook is that viewers can buy NFTs who fund new content and give them the ability to vote on the direction of the story in chapters, sort of a choose-your-own adventure story driven by a decentralized government. While the platform was initially self-funded, cryptocurrencies and NFTs market crashes what followed convinced the founders to raise money to move forward.

“What became most important to me [than self-funding] was that we can continue to build on this vision,” said pplpleasr decipher“with that security in mind that we can focus on what is important, and not have to worry about the market”.

Since the release, Shibuya has added the second chapter of “White Rabbit,” with the third scheduled for January. The startup plans to use the funds to expand its team while looking for future creative collaborators to develop additional NFT-powered interactive film projects to debut on Web3.

Pplpleasr, who rose to fame on Web3 through your NFT artwork for DeFi protocols, said that she and Kuciara will participate in the next wave of projects on the platform to ensure quality results. The goal is “to be the A24 of Web3,” she said, citing the cult-favorite independent film studio behind movies like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “Moonlight.”

“The content on Web3 right now is just bad,” pplpleasr said. “There’s a lot of money in Web3 to make content, but there aren’t a lot of tastemakers.”

Shibuya aims to onboard creators who aren’t already immersed in Web3, and the long-term plan is to eventually open up its tools to creators without Kuciara being so intimately involved in the process.

The next chapter of “White Rabbit” will introduce new interactive mechanics, pplpleasr said, adding that the company is always “thinking five steps ahead” in new ways to interact with NFT holders. Shibuya also recently did a collaboration with the popular Profile Picture Project (PFP) Azukiallowing NFT owners to vote on which character will appear in “White Rabbit.”

Pplpleasr believes that a decentralized video platform like Shibuya is essential for creatives to break away from the traditional Hollywood machine, saying if they didn’t build it, someone else most certainly would. Fundraising ensures that Shibuya can continue on its path, he said, to help creators monetize their work and engage fans in the process.

“It will allow a lot of creators to start transforming the way content is created,” he explained, “if it’s done right.”