This web3 infrastructure startup founded by a Ghanaian-born entrepreneur raises $10M in seed funding

Spatial Labs, a web3 infrastructure and hardware company based in Los Angeles, has closed a $10 million seed funding round led by Blockchain Capital to develop new products and for growth initiatives.

The round also included Marcy Venture Partners, an investment firm co-founded by musician and entrepreneur Jay-Z.

Founded in 2021 by Iddris Sandu, a 25-year-old Ghanaian-born, California-based entrepreneur, Spatial Labs creates embedded microchip hardware called LNQ that allows users to check an item's provenance and past history – usually clothes. Almost like a QR code, tapping the LNQ chip with a phone unlocked online and in-person experiences, such as virtual concerts.

The new funding will go toward scaling and diversifying its tech stack and expanding beyond consumer goods into other industries, including media and entertainment.

According to TechCrunch, this seed round makes Sandu, one of the youngest Black men to raise a double-digit seed round. Per Crunchbase data, only 1% of all VC funds were allocated to Black founders last year; out of the $21.5 billion raised by web3 startups globally last year, $60 million of that went to U.S.-based Black web3 founders – one of whom was Sandu.