Here’s an exclusive look at the 13-slide pitch deck that NFT authentication start-up ORIGYN used to raise $20 million from investors including Bill Ackman and Paris Hilton


Daniel Haudenschild

  • The NFT authentication non-profit ORIGYN just raised $20 million from investors including the prominent activist Bill Ackman.
  • The latest fundraising round valued the start-up, which was founded only a year ago, at $300 million.
  • Check out the 13 pitch deck slides ORIGYN used to land the investment.

The NFT authentication start-up ORIGYN Foundation just raised $20 million in its first funding round, pulling in investments from activist investor Bill Ackman, blockchain specialists Polychain Capital, and socialite and businesswoman Paris Hilton.

The Swiss firm, which was valued at $300 million in the private funding round, uses AI technology to verify non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. An NFT is a unique, blockchain-based digital asset that represents ownership of a real-world item – such as artwork, music, or luxury goods.

“We’re incredibly fortunate and excited to include so many great names in this funding round,” chief executive Daniel Haudenschild said. “It’s a sign of support for what ORIGYN is trying to achieve – using technology to solve for identity, authenticity and proof of ownership.”

NFTs have exploded this year, with monthly sales soaring from $400 million to $2 billion, according to JP Morgan. But the $7 billion market has faced legal and regulatory hurdles, as well as bubble concerns from prominent crypto investors, including Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz.

ORIGYN, which launched in October 2020 and is led by Haudenschild and three founding partners, currently certifies NFTs across four industry verticals – art, collectibles, digital media, and luxuries. It is run as a non-profit, and in 2022 plans to launch a utility token, allowing owners to participate in important governance decisions.

Ackman, who founded hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, hit headlines last year when he made $2.6 billion off of a $27 million bet that the pandemic would trigger a stock market crash. In May, he expressed mixed feelings about the crypto space.

“I think (crypto is) a brilliant technology and I kick myself for not understanding it, it’s one of the best speculations ever,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “But it’s not a place where I would feel comfortable personally putting any meaningful amount of assets in, therefore I wouldn’t invest our firm’s assets.”

Other investors in ORIGYN include Polychain, the blockchain-focussed VC and hedge fund that manages $2 billion of assets, and Hilton, the American media personality who invested in bitcoin and ether in 2016 and publicly backed NFTs earlier this year.

Check out ORIGYN’s 13-slide pitch deck below:



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