A St. Louis native’s startup, co-founded with an NBA player, has raised $26 million to advance its social media platform whose users include celebrities and professional athletes.
The startup, Los Angeles-based Calaxy Inc., on Tuesday said it raised the capital in a funding round co-led by The HBAR Foundation and Hong Kong gaming company Animoca Brands. Blockchain company Polygon also invested in the deal. The deal follows a $7.5 million seed round closed by Calaxy in 2021.
Calaxy’s co-founders include Solo Ceesay, a St. Louis native who attended John Burroughs School. He launched the company with Spencer Dinwiddie, an eight-year veteran of the NBA who currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks. Calaxy has created an app it contends “will set a new industry standard for how creators and fans can engage within a more interactive and equitable framework.”
The app allows creators to post content and engage with fans. Calaxy has it own token currency that fans can use to make purchases to interact with creators. For instance, the tokens can be used to become members of a fan club, join video calls and send direct messages to creators.
Calaxy describes itself as a "Web3" company, a term used to describe the next iteration of the internet. Web3 is expected to be blockchain-based and include "cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, decentralized autonomous organizations, decentralized finance and more,” according to Harvard Business Review.
"Social networks in their current form grant the user minimal rewards, and Calaxy seeks to flip this model over to drive greater benefits to the user,” said Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands. “With its strong leadership and by mediating personalized fan experiences through Web3 while including digital collectibles in those experiences, we believe that Calaxy could become one of the shining stars of tomorrow's social media landscape.”
In addition to announcing its fresh funding, Calaxy said Tuesday that Ceesay has been promoted to CEO from his prior role of chief operating officer. The company’s prior CEO, Dinwiddie, has become the startup’s executive chairman.
"My appointment to CEO and the success of this raise is evidence that blockchain is paving the way for greater global equitability, and highlights what can be accomplished as a 27-year-old black man—decentralized technology will break the barriers that legacy finance has cultivated,” Ceesay said.
Ceesay is currently based in Los Angeles, but plans to move to Washington, D.C., this summer, a spokesperson said. Ceesay isn’t Calaxy's only connection to St. Louis. One of the creators on its platform is Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, also a graduate of John Burroughs School. Elliott invested in the startup in its $7.5 million seed round.
"Solo and I have been close for 13 years. He and Calaxy have built something special. Athletes and creators in general needed a better way to connect with fans. We can now do that because Calaxy has built that ‘better way,’” Elliott said in a statement.
Other high-profile investors in the 2021 seed funding round included Matt James, who previously appeared on ABC reality TV show "The Bachelor"; NFL player Larry Ogunjobi: and Luke Walton, an assistant coach for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.
