Zhang said that the new capital will be allocated to the continued build-out of the team, which has grown 30% year-to-date, looking at opportunistic acquisitions, building an NFT library, and securing and adding a new dimension to larger licensing deals. “We provide art content across different protocols.” “Ultimately, the thing that paid off and led to this higher valuation was blockchain gaming NFTs,” Zhang said. Ultimately, 30 unicorn investments were in that latter fund.Īnd Concept Art House started supplying a lot of artwork for NFT collectibles. We knew it was going to be a disruption.” We played and saw you can make scarce digital art. “For gaming, there was no utility until CryptoKitties came around. “I personally started looking into it and got excited about it what it meant,” Zhang said.
He began investing in blockchain startups through Fifth Era and Blockchain Coinvestors. But Zhang started paying attention to blockchain - the transparent and secure digital ledger - and cryptocurrencies that use the blockchain. The business survived and had its ups and downs. “We could offer premium quality,” Zhang said. The teams specialized in managing the masses of art coming in from teams in China and making sure that they were what the leaders at the game studios wanted. But they didn’t take off, and the company refocused on outsourcing. The company tried making its own games for the Chinese market with its offices in Shanghai and Chengdu. “The plan was to get enough contract work like outsourcing to make our own intellectual property.” “We were always really good at concept design,” Zhang said. He raised money from then-Telltale executive Matthew Le Merle and expanded the company.Īs gaming grew in importance, so did the work. It was important work that inspired game developers to be imaginative, but it was a small business for many years. He started Concept Art House to make concept art for games in 2007. The 3D images consisted of 1,000 polygons - relatively primitive by today’s standards. He created starfighters for Star Wars: Republic Commando. Zhang was a longtime creator of art for video games, starting with his first job at LucasArts. Our belief in Concept Art House is anchored in our bullish forecast that they will continue to be a creative powerhouse in the digital content and NFT arena, which we know first-hand from our working relationship and collaboration on many exciting projects including our upcoming UFC digital collectibles experience.” Origins Zhang’s board also includes chairman Matthew Le Merle and Jenny Chen, and Concept Art House plans to nominate an additional member to the board with knowledge of NFTs.ĭapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou said: “We’re psyched to be extending our relationship with James and the talented team at CAH and excited to be both leading this round and joining the board, which is a first for us. The investor base highlights the appetite for Concept Art House’s diverse offerings and its push into the NFT realm, under its fast-growing Crypto Art House division.ĭapper Labs’ cofounder Mik Naayem is joining the board of Concept Art House. The investors include Dapper Labs, Animoca Brands, Anthos, Appworks, Blockchain Coinvestors, Fabric VC, Hashkey, Liberty City Ventures, One Football, PKO investments, Polymorphic Capital, Protocol Labs, Redbeard Ventures, Spartan Group, Jeff ‘Jiho’ Zirlin (Axie-Infinity), Gabby Dizon (Yield Guild Games), Vinny Lingham (Civic), and Kevin Lin (Twitch). They included venture capital funds, leading NFT platforms, and individual investors including CEO’s of digital entertainment companies. Concept Art House raised funds from both existing and new investors.