Photo Credit: Markus Winkler
Exceed, a three-year-old fintech company that offers “fans a broad range of investment opportunities from musical artists” and others, has announced a newly completed seed raise as well as the appointment of Anthony Martini as president.
Exceed revealed the funding news and the executive hire today, via a formal release that was emailed to DMN. The platform affords investors benefits beyond “royalty-related income,” its website claims, including by allowing users to take stakes in “live performance, physical sales, merchandise, advertising & sponsorship, and a variety of other talent income sources.”
Building upon the point, Exceed enables investors to purchase interests in several musician-specific revenue categories (streaming and publishing royalties among them); interested individuals will receive any owed compensation quarterly, and the amount that each user can invest is limited by Exceed depending on his or her “net worth and annual income,” per the service.
Back to the marketplace’s funding, however, Exceed indicated that it had raised $8 million in seed capital.
Tel Aviv-headquartered investment fund BRM Group led the round, which also drew support from OurCrowd; execs at the latter describe their business as “the most active venture investor in Israel.” Moreover, Exceed communicated that it “has already invested $5.3m in talent pre-launch.”
As mentioned, Exceed has likewise tapped former Royalty Exchange CEO and Jingle Punks partner Anthony Martini to serve as president. In a statement, Martini touted the perceived long-term benefits of Exceed’s model for artists.
“Throughout my career, I’ve sought new opportunities for artists to express themselves without limitation, financially or otherwise,” said Martini. “By partnering with Exceed, artists maintain ultimate control over their careers while sharing a piece of it with their fans. They gain access to new revenue streams while building deeper connections with people who care about their success. It’s like the Robinhood of talent, and it’s game-changing.”
And in a statement of his own, Exceed CEO and Cognitiv Ventures general partner Yori Nelken highlighted Martini’s professional relationships with high-profile music industry acts.
“We are excited to have Anthony on board because his unique experience with talent and fans compliments [sic] our team of high-tech entrepreneurs, investment bankers, and securitization experts,” communicated Nelken. “With Anthony as part of our team, we look forward to offering participation opportunities with some of the world’s top talent.”
Exceed’s app is currently available to download on iOS and Android, and execs say that the entity “will utilize web3 elements to enhance fan engagement and gamification while maintaining adherence to the SEC by also offering bonafide securities.”
In July, a federal judge rejected Universal Music Group’s preliminary injunction request in its lawsuit with investment platform Republic.