Startup profile · funding coverage
PleasrDAO funding, valuation and investors
NFT-collecting DAO — Doge meme, Edward Snowden art, and Wu-Tang album syndicate.
Keep track of PleasrDAO
Save this profile to your VCT watchlist for a quick return.
Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Not publicly disclosed
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
Not publicly disclosed
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
private
seed
Overview
PleasrDAO is a decentralized autonomous organization that pools capital to acquire culturally significant digital art and collectibles. Formed in March 2021 when DeFi builder Leighton Cusack suggested a 'DAO speed run' to buy artist pplpleasr's Uniswap V3 animation, the collective grew to dozens of crypto-native members including pplpleasr herself and Pussy Riot's Nadya. Notable purchases include the original Doge meme NFT ($4M, later fractionalized), Edward Snowden's NFT ($5.4M), and Wu-Tang Clan's one-copy album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin ($4M from a U.S. government auction of Martin Shkreli's assets). In December 2021 Andreessen Horowitz invested in PleasrDAO, acquiring less than 5% of governance tokens per TechCrunch — without disclosing dollar amount.
Why PleasrDAO is interesting
Born from a Discord bet to buy artist pplpleasr's Uniswap animation, PleasrDAO spent $4M on the Wu-Tang album seized from Martin Shkreli and took a16z crypto stake under 5% of governance tokens — headline cultural arbitrage at the 2021 NFT peak.
Product & use cases
DAO treasury and governance framework coordinating syndicate bids on high-value NFTs and physical-digital collectibles — members vote on acquisitions and fractionalization strategies.
- Pooled capital for headline NFT auctions
- Fractionalizing expensive collectibles to wider crypto communities
- Preserving protest-art and anti-establishment cultural artifacts on-chain
Key facts
- a16z portfolio status: Active
- Token investment (Dec 2021): a16z crypto acquired <5% of governance tokens (TechCrunch)
- Doge NFT: bought for $4M (1,696.9 ETH); fractionalized to community (TechCrunch)
- Wu-Tang album: $4M from federal auction of Shkreli forfeiture assets (NYT / Decrypt)
Funding history (newest first)
Governance token investment
2021-12Investors in our directory
Funds linked from PleasrDAO's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Competitive landscape
Edge: Brand and member network for assembling fast syndicates on culturally viral assets — proven with Doge, Snowden, and Wu-Tang headline wins.
PleasrDAO peaked during 2021 NFT mania when pooled capital could win headlines traditional collectors ignored. PartyDAO productized group bids; Flamingo competed for blue-chip digital art. PleasrDAO's edge was narrative — protest pieces, meme history, and music-industry lore. NFT volumes cooled sharply after 2021, but the DAO model persists for illiquid cultural assets where coordination beats solo capital.
-
PartyDAO direct
Built PartyBid product for group NFT bidding; PleasrDAO is curator-led syndicate without the same tooling moat.
-
Flamingo DAO direct
Peer NFT-collecting DAO with overlapping high-value acquisition strategy.
-
Sotheby's Metaverse incumbent
Auction-house NFT channel; PleasrDAO moves faster on crypto-native community bids.
Notable stories
- PleasrDAO revealed itself as the buyer of Wu-Tang Clan's single-copy album — seized from Martin Shkreli and sold by the U.S. government for $4M in 2021 (New York Times).
- Council member Santiago Santos told TechCrunch a16z's governance-token stake was 'less than 5%' — the firm did not disclose dollar size of the December 2021 investment.
Industries
Related funding articles
Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover PleasrDAO's financing or category context.
FAQs about PleasrDAO
Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.
Last updated:
Editorial note: AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.