Futureverse Co-Founders, Shara Senderoff and Aaron McDonald, announce the launch of Born Ready, a new $50 million venture fund and studio.
The fund’s primary focus is to accelerate the development and adoption of emerging technology ventures that hold strategic collaboration potential with Futureverse or The Root Network, a public decentralized blockchain network optimized for metaverse apps and experiences.
“We’re incredibly excited to officially announce our Born Ready venture fund, as we seek out visionary developers and forward-thinking leaders building the future of the internet,” said Shara Senderoff and Aaron McDonald, co-founders of Born Ready.
Born Ready has already made investments in a variety of companies, including former head of Adidas’ Yeezy Innovation Lab’s high-tech sneaker startup, FCTRY Lab, Power’d Digital, Polemos, Walker Labs and more.
Experienced and respected multi-hyphen venture capitalist-operator-entrepreneurs Senderoff and McDonald co-founded Futureverse together, along with Daniel Gillespie and Marco Brondani who also join Born Ready as partners. Futureverse is a leading AI and metaverse technology and content company that recently announced a $54 million Series A funding round led by 10T Holdings, including contribution from Ripple Labs. By rolling up 11 metaverse infrastructure and content companies into one collaborative ecosystem, Futureverse delivers the essential components for constructing any metaverse application, while maintaining one of the world’s largest digital collectible communities. In the last year, Futureverse has formed global strategic partnerships with renowned organizations and innovators including Wimbledon, FIFA, Authentic Brands Group (ABG), Mastercard, Death Row Records, Wētā Workshop, Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant. Futureverse recently announced a strategic partnership with blue-chip NFT collection Cool Cats, integrating the iconic Cool Cats brand with Futureverse’s cutting-edge technology while Senderoff and McDonald became members of the Cool Cats’ Board of Directors.
Senderoff and McDonald have been investing in the web3 and blockchain space for over six years. Shara previously co-founded Raised in Space, a blockchain focused investment fund, in partnership with music-mogul Scooter Braun and blockchain leader Ripple. Through Raised In Space, Shara led investments in over 20 early-stage blockchain startups including a seed investment in Altered State Machine, a decentralized AI protocol that was an integral component of the Futureverse roll-up.
Known for her visionary strategy and foresight both technically and creatively, Shara has commanded attention and praise across the entertainment industry throughout her career in film & TV, digital media and technology. She has been named one of Forbes’ “30 under 30,” Rolling Stone’s “Future 25,” Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” and a member of Billboard’s “40 Under 40” and esteemed “Women In Music.” Shara sits on the board of the leading data activation, curation and identity platform, Audigent.
Meanwhile, Aaron was the Co-Founder and Managing Director of NetX Fund, which invested in over 60 portfolio companies with a thesis that the next generation of successful companies will be built on fundamentally different technology. Aaron was also a cofounder, board member, and director of Centrality, one of NZ’s fastest growing technology companies that recently folded into Futureverse. Prior to Centrality, his career includes 20 years in technology as an engineer, product developer, and business leader with portfolios worth over $1b. Aaron was named Ernst & Young EY Technology Entrepreneur of the Year and is an active board member of Power Finance and Med Recruit.