UnicornDAO has raised $4.5 million to empower women and LGBTQ+ artists. Founded by Pussy Riot’s founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova, the DAO collects NFTs from women-identifying and LGBTQ+ people. But first—what is UnicornDAO and who participated in its latest funding round?
About UnicornDAO’s $4.5 Million Fundraise
On Friday, May 20, UnicornDAO announced it has raised $4.5 million in a round led by ConsenSys Mesh, and Yuga Labs. MoonPay, World of Women, Tribute Labs, Quantum, Flamingo DAO, and The LAO also joined the fundraising. In addition, digital artist Beeple, musicians Grimes and Sia, entrepreneur Guy Oseary, and Gary Vaynerchuk are some of the others who participated in the funding round.
So far, the DAO has collected works worth $1.4 million from under-represented sections in Web3. Recently, Grimes, who joined the DAO’s board, also donated her music video, “New Gods” to the DAO.
What is UnicornDAO?
Nadya Tolokonnikova, one of the founding members of Russia’s political protest art collective, Pussy Riot, launched UnicornDAO in March 2022. It is “a feminist movement that consists of Web3 native people who are using Web3-based tools to create much-needed equality in the Web3 space.”
In other words, the collective aims to “redistribute wealth and visibility” to “create equality for women-identified and LGBTQ+ people”. Ultimately, UnicornDAO’s mission is to “build the infrastructure for a feminist and queer revolution on blockchain”. Onboarding creators to Web3, “subverting crypto bro culture”, and building a top network for feminists x queers are also parts of its missions.
To support these missions, the DAO will collect and display art created by women, non-binary, and LGBTQ+ creators. It will also fund the businesses of those in the space. Besides, it will provide the necessary tools for undervalued and underrepresented groups to empower themselves.
“Right now we are focusing on supporting Web 3 artists, but down the line, we’d like to work with more traditional art forms as well,” Tolokonnikova told CoinDesk. “All our curators are people who I personally met during the last year of my crypto journey. Our ethos is the same as Pussy Riot’s has been for over 10 years, to bring equality and joy to underrepresented groups.”
How to Join UnicornDAO
It’s only been a few days since UnicornDAO opened its membership to the public. On June 21, the DAO will hold a real-life launch event. Moreover, the organisation launched UnicornRiot, a separate group focusing on organising and fundraising for activist causes. Currently, the group focuses on reproductive rights in the US.
While UnicornRiot is free to join, you have to first apply to be a part of UnicornDAO by paying 50 ETH. As of now, the group only has a limited number of seats open. If you wish to join, you can apply at this link.
To conclude, UnicornDAO is a noteworthy venture in the male-dominated NFT space. Its various initiatives to support women and LGBTQ+ artists are much needed in the industry.
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