Seattle startup Niftmint is joining Andreessen Horowitz’s Talent x Opportunity (TxO) accelerator program, part of nine companies in the venture firm’s fall 2023 batch in San Francisco.
Launched in 2020 and led by Andreessen Horowitz partner Kofi Ampadu, the TxO program aims to help entrepreneurs who are developing business ideas but may lack the usual background, connections, or resources to pursue them.
Niftmint sells APIs that brands use to mint, sell, and custody non-fungible tokens (NFTs) directly on their existing e-commerce platform for themselves and their customers.
The company was founded in 2021 by Jonathan G. Blanco, who is also the founder and CEO of TF Labs, a startup studio with a portfolio of blockchain-focused startups.
Blanco said the goal of joining the a16z accelerator is to onboard more enterprise customers as Niftmint gears up for its seed round. He said the startup’s acceptance into the program serves as “resounding validation” for the company.
As part of the accelerator, Niftmint received $100,000 from a16z TxO, marking the startup’s first outside funding to date. The company previously raised $200,000 in non-dilutive grants from Google for Startups Latino Founder Fund ($100,000), Find Ventures ($72,000), Harmony, Stacks, and NEAR.
The fresh cash comes as the crypto market has been in a state flux after last year’s meltdown of Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading platform FTX. The Securities and Exchange Commission has moved to crack down on several large players this year including Binance, Coinbase, Grayscale Investments, and others.
“What people most get wrong about crypto is associating it strictly to trading, whether that be trading cryptocurrency or NFTs as to date they have been isolated within crypto circles,” Blanco said about the industry. “Once crypto technology makes its way into how brands and corporations operate, there will be a dramatic increase in operational efficiency and security.”
Blanco said Niftmint is also looking to apply its tech to the explosion in artificial intelligence. As AI advances, the distinction between human and AI-generated content blurs, he said.
“This underscores the growing importance of tokenizing real-world assets to verify the authenticity of digital products and content,” Blanco said. “Brands, corporations, and consumers want the assurance that their digital possessions are firmly anchored in security, verifiability, and authenticity.”
Niftmint has generated more than $250,000 in revenue, with notable customers including T-Mobile, KISS Beauty, and Ligonier Ministries. The startup has six employees.
