LONDON, July 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — KOR Protocol, the platform building the creative asset clearinghouse, today announced a $7.5 million Series A, capital provided by 1kx and Blockchain Capital at a $100 million valuation. KOR is also backed by previous investors including Republic Crypto, Sfermion, Animoca Brands, Solana, Avalanche, Alumni Ventures, SevenX, and other strategic backers across digital assets, entertainment, and emerging technology.
AI has collapsed the cost of production, but the barrier to being discovered, distributed, and paid has never been higher. Independent talent now has the tools to make professional work, but not the coordinated system to turn that work into opportunity. KOR is building the clearinghouse for this market: an end-to-end system of action where output can be registered, talent can be guided by AI agents, opportunities can be routed to the right labels, agencies, MCNs, brands, curators, and platforms, and payments can move faster and more transparently across the ecosystem.
KOR is starting with entertainment because it is where the mismatch is most visible. Entertainment has the largest attention flows, the highest upside outcomes, and one of the clearest gaps between what gets consumed and who captures the value. AI has commoditized tools and knowledge work, but it cannot commoditize original creativity, cultural gravity, or the ability to command attention. Yet much of the entertainment industry still relies on manual scouting, fragmented platform data, slow deal flow, and outdated payment systems. KOR is designed to rebuild that infrastructure for the AI era.
The Series A round is a strong validation of KOR’s belief that the next phase of AI will need infrastructure for value movement, not just value creation. This capital positions KOR to expand the supply of licensed music and entertainment IP available to AI-native products, deepen its protocol and product stack, and bring more creators, rights holders, and developers into a shared ecosystem.
Ritty Quin was appointed CEO late last year to lead the company’s next phase of growth across the technology engine and the creator economy. A PhD holder and UCL alumnus, he began his career at ByteDance before moving into marketing roles across the technology space. Quin is also a YouTube Partner and electronic music producer signed to Live Nation Asia. He has generated 30M+ impressions as a creator, appeared on Beatport’s Top 100 House Charts and BBC Radio 1 Dance, and headlined Creamfields Asia in 2025.
“AI has removed many of the barriers to creating professional work, but it has not fixed what happens next,” said Ritty Quin, CEO of KOR. “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. KOR is building the system that connects those pieces by helping talent get recognized earlier, reach the right opportunities, and build lasting careers.”
Since launch, KOR has built meaningful traction across its ecosystem, surpassing 1 million lifetime sign-ups, 400,000 connected wallets, 1,000+ IP partners, and more than $2 million in gross revenue. Current IP partners for KOR include globally recognized brands and franchises including Black Mirror, Beatport, mau5trap, Imogen Heap, Banijay Group, KDDI, and more. The company sees this as early evidence that creators and entertainment businesses are looking for better systems to manage the next phase of the talent economy.
KOR’s platform is built around three core functions: production, distribution, and monetization. The production layer helps establish origin, authenticity, ownership, and clearance for creative work. The distribution layer uses intelligence and workflow tools to help route talent, content, and opportunities to the right partners. The monetization layer helps creators and commercial partners manage payments, splits, commissions, licensing flows, and revenue opportunities more efficiently.
There are already a number of apps building on top of the KOR protocol. KORUS is a music remixing and creation tool that lets artists release official music packs for fans and creators to remix. Pacer is an AI operating system for music, helping artists and teams manage release strategy, audience intelligence, partner outreach, and workflow execution. The others include VRSNS, Streamline, and KOR Hubs.
The funding will support KOR’s next phase of growth as it expands its product capabilities, scales strategic partnerships across music and entertainment, brings more creators and commercial partners onto the platform, and builds toward its next major network rollout. As AI pushes creative markets toward more output, more agents, and more transactions, KOR is building the protocol layer for how those assets are verified, routed, and settled. The company’s long-term vision is to become the clearinghouse where creative work enters the AI economy, finds the right demand, and clears value back to its source.
To learn more about KOR, visit korprotocol.io.
About KOR Protocol
KOR Protocol is building the clearinghouse for talent in the AI era. The platform helps creators, artists, rights holders, and entertainment businesses move from creation to discovery, distribution, and monetization in one coordinated environment. Through products including Pacer, KORUS, VRSNS, Streamline, and KOR Hubs, KOR connects emerging talent with the labels, agencies, MCNs, brands, platforms, and communities that can help scale their work.
