NFTs are digital assets such as images or songs that have underlying code verifying the uniqueness of the asset

YoloYolo, a new platform that connects non-fungible token (NFT) owners with brands to sell merchandise, has raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round from backers that included crypto-focused investment firm ParaFi Capital, Mirana Ventures and Morningstar Ventures.

The capital will be used to help hire more employees and bring new brands onboard, YoloYolo co-founder and CEO Jason Hu told CoinDesk in an interview.

Other participants in the funding round were Avalanche Ventures, UOB Venture, Signum Capital, Genblock Capital, Yolo Investments. Individual investors included Neil Cunha-Gomes of SoftBank’s Vision Fund, Nicole Zhang, a former partner at crypto exchange Binance and Mike Dudas, founder and former CEO of The Block.

NFTs are digital assets such as images or songs that have underlying code verifying the uniqueness of the asset. Large brands have formed partnerships with well-known NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks to sell merchandise despite the crypto bear market hitting NFTs particularly hard. Gucci partnered with vinyl toy brand Superplastic in January to launch 10 NFTs that each came with a handmade ceramic sculpture, and jewellery retailer Tiffany unveiled a $50,000 CryptoPunk necklace in July.

One of the biggest problems in the NFT space, that’s also an opportunity for us, is there’s not enough utility, Hu said. People spend a lot of money on their Ape NFTs, and especially during this winter, prices drop a lot. We’re just trying to help them generate some revenue from all of the merchandise.

The YoloYolo app, which is expected to launch in March, will connect top NFT intellectual-property holders to brands and creators in the fashion and lifestyle industries. YoloYolo will sell the merchandise and take a cut of the sales.