NFT Ecosystem Framework Provider GuardianLink.io Raises $12 Mn From Kalaari Capital

Chennai-based GuardianLink.io which provides a technology framework for the NFT ecosystem has raised $12 Mn. The Series A round was led by Kalaari Capital and another private investor group.

The startup plans to use the funding to expand its global presence. Beginning with Singapore and Japan, GuardianLink.io will establish design labs, strengthen technology, work on the brand’s creative development capabilities. It will further deepen its NFT packaging foundation and curation, to make the end blockchain product appealing and safe for end-users.

This association also marks Kalaari Capital’s first-ever investment into the fast-growing NFT space.

Founded in 2020 by Keyur Patel, Ramkumar Subramaniam, Kameshwaran Elangovan and Arjun Reddy, the startup support 40+ NFT marketplaces globally.

NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is a digital asset representing real-world objects or parts of objects such as art, music, in-game items and videos. These can be bought and sold online, just like any other item, and most NFT marketplaces are built around cryptocurrency and tokens, and a blockchain network (usually Ethereum).

The Web 3.0 product is fast-changing the art and entertainment landscape, making it easier than ever for fans to support their favourite creators and for artists to mint and trade unique, collectible pieces.

With a team of 350 blockchain experts, the startup analyses and leverages the current and future use cases of NFT and the crypto space. It started out as a profitable blockchain R&D firm and has now evolved into an NFT Marketplace and Metaverse enabler.

GuardianLink.io also has a strong presence in India and is working on deriving additional use cases NFT, DeFi, Gaming, and Metaverse technologies. It also hosts an Anti.RIP tech, which prevents NFTs from getting copied, and thus, preventing art/identity theft. It has further launched over 45 installations of its marketplace cloud with a built-in secure vault-based legitimacy protocol.

The startup claims to be building a place for itself in the NFT ecosystem as creators, athletes, artists and brands are increasingly banking on NFTs for asset monetisation. “With the industry rapidly latching onto the NFT ecosystem, we believe that the expanded research and design centre in Singapore and Japan will allow us to provide our creators with enhanced advanced capabilities to launch their NFTs,” Elangovan said in a statement.

Recently, the no/low-code NFT Exchange platform was also in the news when legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan rolled out his NFT collection through BeyondLife.club. BeyondLife.club was a partnership between Rhiti Entertainment and GuardianLink.io, that came into prominence after Sr Bachchan’s NFTs garnered over $1 Mn in NFT sales.

While the arena for NFT trading is laced with marketplaces such as OpenSea, Rarible, Binance-owned WazirX marketplace, the enablers are far few. GuardianLink.io competes with the likes of OpenSea SDK, DevTeam.Space, ShareTribe, among others.