Legitimate Raises $4.3M to Spearhead the Future of Phygital Retail Applications
New York, United States, April 3rd, 2024, Chainwire
Legitimate, the leading phygital products platform, has raised $4.3 million in seed round funding. The oversubscribed round was led by Lemniscap, with participation from Draper Associates, Sfermion Factor VC as well as strategic angel investments from VERBAL and Jeff Miyahara.
Legitimate enables projects to embed a wide range of digital content into their physical goods via Legitimate’s LGT Tags, including exclusive audio and videos, text, digital collectibles, mobile apps and more. To date, Legitimate’s technology has been leveraged by a host of household name brands such as Puma, AMBUSH and Roc Nation to power unique consumer experiences.
Legitimate’s proprietary software – LGT Tag Manager – is used to program and manage special encrypted NFC (Near Field Communication) chips in large quantities for the platform’s expanding client base, integrating seamlessly into their respective supply chains and manufacturing processes. This unique and secure solution further adds value for brands in regulatory compliance, being the easiest and most seamless way to satisfy the increasingly popular DPP (Digital Product Passport) initiatives that are being developed by various countries and regulatory bodies around the world.
Legitimate-powered products are currently available in leading stores across North America and Asia such as Footlocker and Champs. Once integrated, Legitimate’s LGT Tags can be scanned by any mobile phone device to activate a unique digital experience and to verify the authenticity and provenance of a product. All of Legitimate’s technological solutions have been developed in accordance with the most stringent global privacy and consumer regulations.
The connection between a physical product and digital experience creates novel data points, providing unprecedented visibility into how customers engage with brands and their products. This compounds into a massive network effect as consumers purchase and engage with products across different brands in the Legitimate ecosystem. Legitimate enables brands to harness this data to personalize and localize execution to increase brand loyalty with and LTV (Lifetime Value) of their most loyal customers. Products with LGT Tags work seamlessly with Tokenproof, Shopify, OpenSea and most other third-party NFT tools and platforms.
Legitimate was founded by Web3 veteran Calvin Chan, who previously worked in several Product Engineering roles, including tenure at Skillshare and building decentralized ownership and trading protocols on the Ethereum blockchain at AirSwap/Fluidity – which was later acquired by ConsenSys. Daniel Duan, Legitimate Co-Founder and CTO, has held a number of Senior Engineering positions at companies such as GOAT, WeWork, Squarespace and IBM.
Calvin Chan, Founder and CEO of Legitimate, said: “Today’s funding round announcement underscores our credentials as the platform of choice for the most culturally relevant brands to create physical products with unique digital experiences. We look forward to working with top brands and projects to build exciting new apps that tap into the real-world utility of physical products, helping them engage their customers like never before. Sincere thanks to our investors for supporting our mission to unlock the future of phygital retail applications.”
Shaishav Todi, General Partner at Lemniscap, said: “Lemniscap is thrilled to have led this seed round for Legitimate, a platform that is enabling creators and major brands to effortlessly link physical goods to personalised, digital Web3-powered experiences – all without the need for deep level coding or blockchain expertise. Legitimate’s technology will offer top brands a secure and seamless entry point into the Web3 market, while encouraging new swathes of participants to explore the space with confidence.”
Legitimate previously raised over $1.3 million in pre-seed funding between 2021 and 2022, receiving backing from the likes of 6th Man Ventures, Not Boring Founder Packy McCormick and many more.
About Legitimate
Legitimate enables game-changing digital experiences for all types of physical goods. By using NFC and blockchain technology, Legitimate’s ‘Locked NFT Protocol’ securely links physical products (using the LGT Tag) to distinct digital identities on the blockchain. Use cases extend to: authentication and ownership history, tracing products for sustainability and circularity, facilitating exclusive digital content for product owners, collecting information for marketing and analytics and much more.
About Lemniscap
Lemniscap is an investment firm specializing in investments in emerging crypto assets and blockchain startups. Since its founding in 2017, Lemniscap has funded multiple investments in the crypto blockchain space, on the core belief that blockchain technology will upend traditional business models, resulting in profound changes in the world economy. The Lemniscap team consists of talented people with backgrounds in financial markets, PE/VC, technology and entrepreneurship. For more information, visit https://lemniscap.com/.
