AI-powered studio Mugafi has teamed up with the Avalanche blockchain to put films, anime, music and other media assets onchain, letting creators raise funds and distribute projects directly through tokenized intellectual property. Mugafi will draw from its existing catalog and upcoming releases, using its AI—trained on thousands of scripts and story structures—to assess projects before they are offered for onchain financing.
The partners expect to finance more than $10 million in entertainment IP in the initial phase, with an ambitious long-term goal of exceeding $1 billion in annual IP financing throughput. Avalanche says the collaboration will demonstrate how its network can support large-scale real-world asset issuance, providing the infrastructure to fund, track and distribute entertainment projects onchain.
Mugafi, founded in India in 2020, is backed by entertainment and venture investors including Nexus VP, HashedEM, Netflix, Amazon and Panorama Studios. The company points to the 2025 release Kuberaa, which grossed $35 million at the box office and was distributed through Amazon Prime Video, as an example of its commercial footprint. Mugafi says the initiative will generate hires across AI, production, blockchain operations and compliance, and projects more than 1,500 creator and studio opportunities spanning India, North America, Japan and Korea.
This move aligns with a broader industry push to bring entertainment IP onchain. Creators and platforms are increasingly experimenting with tokenization and Web3 rights management to unlock new financing, distribution and monetization models. Recent similar efforts include Animoca Brands partnering with Ibex Japan to create a Web3 entertainment fund focused on tokenizing Japanese anime and manga IP.
PIP Labs has also emerged as a notable Web3 IP player with Story Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain built to manage and program intellectual property onchain. Founded in 2022 by former Google DeepMind product manager Jason Zhao, Story Protocol offers tools for creators to tokenize works, record IP onchain and set terms for use, sharing or adaptation—helping rights holders retain control over downstream usage. In August 2024, PIP Labs raised $80 million in a Series B led by a16z Crypto and Polychain Capital to advance the protocol.
Together, these efforts signal growing interest in using blockchain infrastructure to finance, govern and monetize entertainment IP at scale. Mugafi and Avalanche’s partnership aims to bridge AI-driven project evaluation with onchain funding and distribution, positioning tokenization as a practical route for creators and studios to access capital and control rights.