Cavoulacos, Zuckerberg and Downey in NYC
Randi Zuckerberg is on a mission to merge art, technology and community through Web3. In fact, that’s how she found not only a community, but a business partner. Both Zuckerberg and Debbie Soon were members of the Meta Angels community when Soon posted in a “wishing well” Discord message board that she was hoping to pursue a full-time career in Web3. That’s how the two became co-founders of HUG, a community review platform that helps people discover new NFT projects.
Zuckerberg recently formed a company called Assemble Stream, Inc., which announced Thursday it is acquiring Web3 membership community Meta Angels. Meta Angels will join HUG under the Assemble umbrella.
“We are at the frontlines of a new creator economy, an ownership economy,” Zuckerberg says. “The HUG and Meta Angels communities and teams share a desire to build that future for the better, with inclusion at the forefront.”
Zuckerberg says she entered the Web3 space to bring art and technology together through content, community and commerce. The acquisition of Meta Angels signals a move to consolidate NFT projects into portfolio companies that include many Web3 communities. Zuckerberg’s vision diverges a bit from that of her brother, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who thinks the future of the metaverse is everyone coming together in one utopian augmented reality experience.
Meta Angels launched in February with an NFT collection by artist Sarana Haeata, which featured 10,000 pieces of original art. They also pioneered an on-chain lending functionality for NFT holders where community members could lend their membership token to others as a way to expand access to the Meta Angels community. Founders Alexandra Cavoulacos and Allyson Downey saw this lending functionality as a way to break down the barriers to gated networks using blockchain technology for greater connection.
Zuckerberg said partnering with Meta Angels was the next logical step in building her Web3 model. “I have been a fan of Meta Angels and the team behind it since before their launch,” she says. “From their innovation and impressive experience building companies to the core values they kept central as they launched their community, I knew that they were the right partner as we head into our next phase of growth.”
Web3, which came to prominence with the significant spike in NFT projects earlier this year, is the idea of a new, decentralized internet model based on blockchains. As the “crypto winter” took hold, numerous brands emerged, from BoredApes to VeeFriends to World of Women. But with a tumultuous economy, a significant dip in crypto over the past few months and searches for NFTs and Web3 on the decline, crypto enthusiasts have been wondering what comes next.
So are these types of consolidations going to become more common as the current economic climate informs the next phase of web3? Downey and Cavoulacos think so.
“Decentralized doesn’t need to mean fragmented,” Downey says. “When looking at the long term, it’s clear to me that smart consolidation is the future.”
Cavoulacos adds, “We’ve believed for some time now that the smartest players in the space will be those that unite to scale their reach and potential. When the opportunity arose to join forces with a powerhouse team with a really compelling long-term vision, it was a no-brainer.”
For HUG NFT holders and Meta Angels community members, this consolidation means that their membership will transition into an all-access pass to both communities. Zuckerberg shared that both Meta Angels and HUG members can expect to see “added benefits and offerings as the communities are integrated later this year.” That could mean anything from more educational and mentorship offerings for Meta Angels holders as they exist in the HUG community, and potentially more partnerships with brands as the community’s reach expands.
Cavoulacos will join Assemble as Chief Operating Officer. In her new role, she says the company is well positioned to be, “one of the break-out consumer brands, not just in Web3, but for the millions of crypto-curious people out there.”
