Marcy Venture Partners (MVP), the Venture Capital Firm owned by American rapper, and businessman Jay-Z is investing in 24-year-old technologist Iddris Sandu’s impact-driven tech incubator spatial LABS (sLABS).
The multi-tiered partnership between MVP and sLABS will explore the unlimited possibilities at the intersection of tech, culture and humanity.
sLABS first endeavor is the launch of LNQ; an innovative, state-of-the-art blockchain-enabled hardware platform. LNQ aims to make the metaverse more accessible and provide creators with decentralized tools to engage with their communities through LNQ’s proprietary, real-time processing stack.
The relationship between JAY-Z and Sandu has been one in development, with sLABS previously collaborating on Augmented Reality partnerships with Beyoncé’s Ivy Park, Nipsey Hussle’s The Marathon Clothing Store, Rihanna’s Fenty line and Kanye West’s Yeezy, each of whom have collaborated with JAY-Z throughout their multi-hyphenate careers.
“Iddris has a conscious world view and a youth-centric vision that is innovative and refreshing to witness. We share similar parallels in how we imagine impacting people in our lifetime. Partnering with him on this journey and others is very exciting,” said JAY-Z.
This investment comes during a time of strong growth within the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.
“JAY-Z has always been at the forefront of cultural evolution and identifying the next leaders. Aligning with Marcy Venture Partners assists with our vision for elevating the youth as it relates to access and a means to true technological empowerment. The lasting impact of this relationship is not simply defined by the work we’re doing now, but by the immeasurable impact for generations of creators to come.” Iddris Sandu said.
A Ghana-native, Sandu was raised in Southern California and collaborating with leading global companies, such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Adidas, Nike and many others since he was 13.
In 2019, Sandu was the recipient of the Thiel Fellowship; a two year program founded by Silicon Valley veteran Peter Thiel, one of the earliest investors in Facebook, PayPal, and SpaceX . Sandu shortly after founded halt LABS (an early sister entity to sLABS), a city infrastructure and transportation corporation that has garnered the attention and funding of impact-driven investors like NFL Professional Bobby Wagner, Ron Burkel of Yucaipa Companies, NBA veteran Anthony Tolliver, Marcy Venture Partners, and Scooter Braun of Raised in Space – a VC fund backed by Ripple (XRP).
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