68% of consumers used a digital wallet in the last 12 months. While there are a number of factors that have led to the adoption of digital wallets, one of the largest determinants of a wallet’s usefulness is the ability to pay friends and vendors within your established network. One of the defining features that led to Venmo’s meteoric growth was its keen understanding and implementation of its signature public social feed. Primitives is a platform that features an embedded crypto wallet that’s also added robust social functionality to make NFT collection and wallet adoption seamless, collaborative, and fun. The company allows users to easily create and distribute their own Primitives NFTs without deep technical knowledge or convoluted processes and the wallet is able to hold any type of NFT. Primitives is built on Solana to ensure that all transactions have low transaction fees and are energy-efficient. The platform is focused on both the needs of sophisticated crypto holders as well as for those that are foraying into the world of NFTs by harnessing existing connections and taking advantage of network effects. The wallet is free for users and the company earns revenue from royalties on the secondary sale of any of its NFTs originated on the platform.
AlleyWatch caught up with Primitives Founder and CEO David Gabeau, a former VC at USV, to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
$4M Seed from Redpoint, USV, Stellation, Harlem Capital, Tiny.VC.
Tell us about the product or service that Primitives offers.
Primitives is a web3 social application with a crypto wallet built natively into the platform that offers everybody a seamless way to create and collect NFTs that foster lasting connections with friends, creators, and brands.
What inspired the start of Primitives?
As an engineer with a background in social media and a VC with a background in crypto, I realized that amorphous communities could be formed around shared assets and that these shared assets could live in a crypto wallet if you made it accessible and fun, with clear use cases around NFTs.
How is Primitives different?
Primitives offers a seamless way for everybody to start creating and collecting NFTs at no cost. NFTs created on Primitives are free for the user and Primitives makes it very easy to share the NFTs you create with a friend.
What market does Primitives target and how big is it?
Primitives believes that everyone with internet access will eventually have a crypto wallet that will hold digital assets meaningful to them. Our mission is to create an entry point into Web3 by redefining NFTs as a way of socializing around shared values, lifestyles, and interests—accessible to everyone.
What’s your business model?
Primitives has a royalty baked into the smart contract so if Primitives’ NFTs are traded in the secondary market, the company receives a small percentage of the transaction.
What are your post-COVID office plans??
We started remote and have plans to stay remote-first.
What was the funding process like?
Fortunately, it was a relatively quick process. We were able to articulate the problem Primitives aims to solve around accessibility to the crypto market and the utility of NFTs. Select investors not only understood that current platforms served crypto-native people well, and not necessarily those who are not as tech savvy—but also, how Primitives can close that gap.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
We launched pre-product, so understandably it was difficult for some investors to get behind a product vision.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Unlike any other NFT platform on the market, Primitives has the opportunity to make the adoption of NFTs uncomplicated and fun. Beyond this, Primitives has the pieces in place to deliver broadly accessible social and ownership experience for the first time. Many people have heard of NFTs, but are turned off by the idea of buying “JPEGs” to speculate on. Primitive NFTs are meant to authenticate connections between friends, places, and brand on-chain.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We will be out of beta in the coming month with the core focus of reaching 100k users before the end of the year.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Continue to focus on product-market fit while keeping burn low (we are following our own advice).
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We are excited about giving our users access to other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC?
Ruby’s!
