KOR Protocol secures $7.5M from 1kx and Blockchain Capital to build AI-era IP infrastructure

Crypto capital is renewing its commitment to the complex relationship between AI and intellectual property. KOR Protocol has announced that it acquired $7.5 million in Series A financing led by 1kx and Blockchain Capital with a valuation of $100 million. It is working on creating an on-chain platform that will be used for registering creative works and transferring the payments to the rightful owners.

This financing comes at a time when AI can create new content at a speed that the industry is unable to keep track who made it or who gets paid. This is what KOR Protocol is using to attract investors to their venture, and at the same time, form a crypto capital around the problem that has not yet been solved by the entire industry dealing with AI.

According to the team behind the startup, KOR Protocol will be acting as a “creative asset clearinghouse” built on the Layer 2 network of Coinbase’s Base.  It aims to introduce stablecoins as a way of ensuring smooth royalty and licensing payments, eliminating slow payment processes in the legacy entertainment infrastructure.

Why crypto money is chasing AI’s content problem

The size of the problem is becoming more and more clear. According to music platform Deezer’s data, there are almost 75,000 AI-generated songs uploaded every day on the platform, which is about 44% of all new submissions. However, these new songs only make up about 1% to 3% of total streamed songs.

Furthermore, 85% of AI-generated streams are considered to be fake and not included when paying royalties. It is noted by KOR that the bottleneck is no longer the problem of creating content but rather an issue of ownership verification, rights allocation, and payment settlement.

All this was interesting to a group of cryptocurrency and entertainment investors. Along with the likes of 1kx and Blockchain Capital, KOR has received funds from Republic Crypto, Sfermion, Animoca Brands, Solana, Avalanche, Alumni Ventures and SevenX. Additionally, KOR has informed The Block that they are going to launch a token of their own, aligning the platform’s long-term economics with the broader crypto ecosystem.

Such investment represents a trend for crypto development in connection with the area of intellectual property rights. In 2024, Story Protocol was able to raise $80 million during the Series B round. Chris Dixon, a16z crypto founder and managing partner, described the announcement as AI forcing the industry to rethink digital ownership.

“What Bitcoin did for money and finance, Story is doing for content and IP,” Dixon said, describing AI as the catalyst for a new phase of Web3 centered on programmable intellectual property. The fact that the comment mentions the Story Protocol and not KOR does not diminish the observation that blockchain-based ownership systems are gaining traction in the eyes of investors as one of the most important building blocks of the AI economy.

KOR faces stiff competition in the market but not all players are using the same strategy. While some of them are establishing new blockchains for the sake of intellectual property, KOR will be using an existing Ethereum-based scaling network and work on applications for creators and intellectual property holders without forcing them into new blockchain ecosystem changeover.

The comparative analysis shows that investors are supporting various models rather than opting for one technical model. Story Protocol is creating a unique blockchain intended to be used as a foundational layer for programmable intellectual properties.

Similar Layer-1 solution has been planned by Camp Network but focusing on AI-powered provenance and royalty platform. KOR, on the other hand, is building on Base smart contract plethora instead of launching its own blockchain, believing that content creators will have a preference towards already existing Ethereum infrastructure.

As evident, both 1kx and Blockchain Capital are investing into both Camp Network and KOR, despite their different architectures, suggesting the firms see long-term potential in both purpose-built IP blockchains and middleware that operates on established networks.

Entertainment is KOR’s proving ground

KOR is initially targeting the entertainment industry, where it already has measurable traction. The firm claims to have recorded up to 1 million lifetime sign-ups, connected more than 400,000 wallets, onboarded over 1,000 intellectual property partners, and earned more than $2 million in gross revenues. Among the major partners of the company are Black Mirror, Beatport, an electronic music label mau5trap, Imogen Heap, Banijay Group, and Japanese telecommunications company KDDI.

The platform includes three main functions: establishing ownership of creative content, directing the content to the right labels and brands, and the automatization of licensing and royalties payment process. Applications already running on KOR include: KORUS, which allows artists to release official remix packs; and Pacer, which serves as an AI tool for managing music releases and interacting with the audience.

KOR’s Leadership also reflects its blend of music and blockchain expertise. KOR was founded by Inder Phull, who previously co-founded Pixelynx before its acquisition by Animoca Brands. Ritty Quin, who is an electronic music producer signed to Live Nation Asia and the main performer at Creamfields Asia in 2025, was appointed as KOR’s CEO last year.

“As both an artist and an operator, I know how difficult it is to translate strong work and audience momentum into distribution, partnerships and sustainable revenue,” Quin said during the funding’s announcement.

According to KOR, the opportunity is not limited to crypto only. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Global Music Report 2026, the global recorded music revenue was estimated at $31.7 billion in 2025, with almost 70% coming from streaming. It is still unclear if blockchain technology will become the main platform for settling AI-generated artistic works, but the clearly emerging investor interest indicates that KOR is making a right choice.

By choosing to rely on already existing infrastructure, KOR stands out as it creates a different proposition from several competitors—and one that could prove attractive if creators prioritize interoperability and ease of adoption over another standalone network.

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