Artificial intelligence (AI)-based NFT authentication startup Optic has raised $11 million in a seed funding round. The Block reports it.
Kleiner Perkins and Pantera Capital led the round. Members include Greylock Partners, Lattice Capital, OpenSea, Circle, Polygon, CoinDCX, Neon DAO, and Flamingo DAO.
Optic will use the funds to build the core AI infrastructure and expand the team. The project will launch new tools for NFT creators and collectors and a public API for Web3 developers.
The company was founded in 2021 by ex-Google Product Director Andrey Doronichev, programmers Roman Doronin and Vlad Vinogradov. A startup is developing an AI engine for recognizing NFT content.
Optic says it processes millions of collectible tokens daily, matching them to determine authenticity. Automated monitoring tools notify marketplaces, brands, and NFT owners of results.
“Optic goes beyond other services that we have evaluated in terms of response and matching accuracy, and this is one of the many factors that led to the decision to become their customers,” said Shiva Rajaraman, director of product at OpenSea.
In June, the founder and CEO of the largest NFT marketplace, David Finzer, spoke about the measures OpenSea has taken to combat fraud and plagiarism. He also announced further investments in additional solutions in this area.
In February, the platform reported that over 80% of NFTs created with the free release option were fake or spam.
