Meet ARize — A Blockchain Powered Content Marketplace for Metaverse
Welcome to Startup Spotlight — a recurring article series where we break down the startups joining Decubate. In each edition of Startup Spotlight, we aim to provide actionable information to clearly understand each startup, the market they’re operating in and why we as Decubate are excited about their future.
In the inaugural edition of Startup Spotlight, we’re covering ARize. An augmented reality business with big plans for the metaverse.
Before jumping into ARize, we’d be remiss if we didn’t set the stage for the metaverse. What it is, how it’s structured, and where it’s going.
Enter The Metaverse
While the metaverse has been depicted in popular media as a massive singular destination (e.g. The Oasis from Ready Player One) the people who are actively building it believe otherwise. They view the metaverse as a range of immersive media experiences that are interoperable with each other, but that’s just scratching the surface. We need to go deeper.
Which brings us to the structural layers of the metaverse itself. The component pieces required (both hardware and software) to create it. We’re big fans of Matthew Ball’s categorization of the metaverse (his metaverse primer is a must read). Ball identifies eight core enablers of the metaverse that will work in concert to power its future.
For the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on the Content, Services and Assets category which Ball defines as “the design/creation, sale, re-sale, storage, secure protection and financial management of digital assets.” We believe this piece of the metaverse is incredibly attractive.
- The current market size of virtual goods is $52 billion
- Sales of NFTs have reached $2.5 billion year to date
- The metaverse market expected to reach $280 billion by 2025
“The future of the metaverse is here, it’s just not evenly distributed”
The market growth potential of virtual goods, the current iteration of the metaverse Content category, is stunted because of legacy internet business models, namely, walled gardens. That skin you purchased in Fortnite is not coming with you to Roblox. You can’t bring your Robe of the Void from WOW to Skyrim and your Second Life gear will definitely not show up in IMVU. While the nascent, walled garden phase metaverse we’re experiencing today is fundamentally flawed, it has validated virtual goods and by association future metaverse content as a lucrative asset class. Imagine the market implications when virtual goods can finally travel with you.
“The metaverse will be a constellation of interconnected experiences, as abundant as the stars”
Today, there are currently 1.86 billion websites online today. As the metaverse takes shape, we believe its various touch-points will likely exceed that figure and that creating your own corner of the metaverse should ultimately be as easy (if not easier) than building a website today. That would require a treasure trove of virtual goods and that’s exactly the opportunity ARize is planning to tackle.
ARize is building a metaverse ready marketplace for virtual goods. A singular destination for all your digital asset needs. From avatars and clothing to dragons and spaceships and everything in between!
So, without further ado, let’s dig into ARize.
Introducing ARize
We’ve selected key slides out of ARize’s investor presentation for commentary. The full presentation will be available on their Decubate profile in the coming days.
The key features of the ARize platform support the deployment of a metaverse ready virtual good. From creation and rights management to sale and ongoing monetization. As we previously noted, a key driver for the expansion of the Content category of the metaverse will be the robust resale market.
ARize has done a great job crystalizing the benefits its platform provides to key participants. We really like how they’ve designed their platform to appeal to both B2C (creators and users) and B2B (creators and developers) audiences.
Have to include the team slide. Talent is a key qualifier we look for when evaluating startups for Decubate and the founding team at ARize is well positioned for success. We’re big believers in their CEO, Aryan, and his track record of running a profitable business for 3+ years.
A key area we focus on when vetting businesses for Decubate is blockchain use case. Does embracing this technology have significant potential to create new value for the business and investors. The answer for ARize is a firm yes as blockchain unlocks the foundational building blocks they’ll need to build the leading marketplace for metaverse-ready virtual goods.
Arize has done a nice job of maximizing the utility of their ARZ token. The content creation (NFT) and rights management use cases are very intriguing.
Directly connected to the token utility slide above, we love how ARize envisions ARZ fueling their virtual goods marketplace across all audiences.
The future of ARize looks bright. We like how they’re focused on creating near-term value for investors by launching Staking Pools out of the gate and how aggressively they’re staffing to deliver on their upcoming milestones. 2022 is going to be action packed!
TLDR
- ARize is a successful augmented reality business that’s expanding into the metaverse
- The metaverse market expected to reach $280 billion by 2025
- ARize is developing a platform and marketplace for NFT-based virtual goods
- ARize is launching ARZ, a utility token that will power their metaverse offering on Decubate
- Visit platform.decubate.com to learn more about ARize and subscribe your interest to invest
How big could ARize be? If everything goes according to plan, Amazon for the metaverse!
About Decubate
Decubate is a community-powered investment platform that is bringing the $3 trillion global startup economy on-chain. Decubate pairs traditional web2 startups with the financial and promotional capital of community members to fuel their web3 success. Learn more at www.decubate.com
