Immersive music experience startup Stage11 just closed a €5 million seed round led by Otium Capital, a European venture capital fund, backed up by the Stage11 founder and CEO, Jonathan Belolo.
Founded in 2020, Stage11 has begun its journey to reimagine music for the metaverse and will use the fresh capital to onboard strategic hires, sign key artist and brand partnerships and build its technology platform. Stage11 founder Jonathan Belolo is a music industry veteran and the co-owner of Scorpio Music with a track record of 45 years of success, with artists ranging from The Village People to Mi Gente by J Balvin & Beyonce.
Belolo commented: “As a gamer and sci-fi nerd, It feels like I’ve been dreaming about the metaverse my entire life. Now that as a society we’re on the cusp of making it real, I find myself blessed to be part of an incredible team setting out to explore the new frontier. Building immersive music events and experiences is just the first step. We are on a journey together to reimagine the way artists and brands connect, even co-create, with their fans and audiences. We are combining genres, realities and cultures to build something bold, thrilling and timeless — yet accessible and fun.”
Stage11 is setting out to redefine the interactive music experience by combining gaming, mixed reality, and digital collectibles. They aim to do this by building a new creative canvas for artists, allowing them to invite fans to live, play, and create inside their performances and musical worlds.
These worlds combine immersive gameplay sequences, lifelike performances, cinematic narratives and exclusive digital collectibles. Fans can not only discover and collect but actually use these interactive NFTs to create and share unique personalized content and even perform with their favorite artists.
This forms the core of a music metaverse that gives artists, brands, influencers and fans the tools to co-create unique digital experiences, collectibles, and content unlocking new revenue streams for all by tapping into today’s fastest-growing markets – gaming, AR/VR, virtual events, and digital goods.
Stage11 can be accessed on desktop and mobile, playing to the strengths of both platforms. While desktop offers a more interactive high-definition experience, mobile focuses on mixed reality experiences and content creation as well as social interaction. Both platforms merge into one seamless user experience.
Today, Stage11 is also announcing partnerships with world-famous artists Martin Garrix, David Guetta, Snoop Dogg, Ne-Yo, Akon, French viral street dance artist Salif Gueye and a key strategic fashion partnership with the Institut Français de la Mode.
To realize his vision, Belolo is joined by three co-founders; Jean-Philippe Braud and Gregory Dhonner, the Co-founder and Director of business development for Profirst, a leading luxury event agency, and Mani Nordine, the President of American Artists Company specializing in managing A-list artists & celebrities bookings (Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Nas & Lady Gaga), who together bring decades of global business experience in music and fashion along with their invaluable networks to Stage11.
“At Otium Capital, we are entrepreneurs before we are investors. As entertainment, digital and gaming are part of our expertise, Stage 11 is an obvious choice for us. The founders of Stage 11 are recognized experts in their respective fields (Music, Fashion, Luxury, Lifestyle). This track record has enabled them to build a high-quality team between Europe and Silicon Valley in record time.” says Pierre-Edouard Stérin, founder of Otium Capital.
Stage11’s first music experience is set to debut in 2022, but here is already a little teaser:
