We are building a new onchain IP economy, one in which iconic IP isn’t locked away, but is liquid and accessible. Today, we are excited to share that Aria has raised $15 million in combined seed and strategic funding to accelerate this vision and build the future of IP onchain.
Major participants include Polychain, Neoclassic, Story Foundation, and other key partners across crypto, IP, and entertainment. This raise helps us build on what we have already launched and continue to accelerate toward a future where iconic IP is not only liquid and accessible but also programmable and collaborative.
In the era of boundless digital distribution and content sharing, creators and rights holders are increasingly seeing their work absorbed with AI models or used across digital media. These actions often result in inadequate attribution, compensation, or control, while platforms are eager for high-quality, licensable content, creators are eager to build with it, and fans crave to participate in the culture they love.
Aria bridges this disconnect
What We’ve Built So Far
Aria has brought iconic, revenue-generating IP onchain as fungible, yield-generating tokens.
Earlier this year in June, Aria launched $APL, Aria’s first IP real-world asset which we refer to as an ‘IPRWA token’. $APL represents partial income rights to a portfolio of 48 songs to date, performed by artists including BLACKPINK, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and BTS. Made possible by our community, these rights were acquired using $10.95 million raised via Stakestone’s LiquidityPad.
$APL holders earn a share of real-world royalties from the underlying music rights when they stake their tokens.
In doing this, Aria launched the first-of-its-kind, large-scale tokenization of iconic music IP. Investors can now access real-world yield from some of the most culturally valuable assets in the world, while giving rights holders a new way to monetize their work by unlocking capital tied to royalty income, without giving up control.
What This Raise Enables
This $15M funding supports us in:
Advancing protocol development to enable programmable assets for remix licensing, royalty splits, and onchain royalty distribution
Onboarding more rights holders and iconic IP
Expanding into art, and other culturally significant verticals
What’s Next?
We are thrilled to be building with the community! If you're an early supporter, an $APL holder, or someone who believes in an onchain future for culture, thank you. We are working hard to turn our vision into something you can use, build with, and benefit from.
We have exciting updates coming soon. Don’t forget to join the Discord and follow us on X to never miss a beat!
In the meantime, we hope you stay listening.
— Team Aria
