Aria Raises $15M Seed Round to Bring Iconic IP Onchain
Aria Raises $15M Seed Round to Bring Iconic IP Onchain
Key Takeaways
Aria has closed a $15 million seed and strategic funding round to transform how intellectual property (IP) is owned, monetised, and shared. The round was backed by major investors, including Polychain, Neoclassic Capital, and the Story Protocol Foundation.
The project is pioneering what it calls "IP real-world assets" (IPRWA). These tokens turn cultural assets such as music, art, and media into accessible, yield-generating financial products on the blockchain.
Aria's mission is simple: make iconic IP liquid, programmable, and collaborative. By moving these assets onchain, the company aims to give rights holders, creators, and fans new ways to benefit from cultural products that have traditionally been locked away in licensing agreements.
In June 2025, Aria launched $APL, its first IPRWA token. $APL represents partial income rights to a portfolio of 48 songs by world-famous artists, including BLACKPINK, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and BTS.
Through $APL, token holders can stake their assets and earn real-world royalties from the underlying music rights. This gives investors exposure to revenue streams from global hits while offering rights holders new liquidity.
The rights were acquired with $10.95 million raised via StakeStone's LiquidityPad, a community-driven fundraising platform. This approach allowed Aria to bootstrap the project with strong grassroots support while simultaneously testing its model for tokenised royalties.
According to the company, the $APL launch marked the first large-scale tokenisation of iconic music IP. It showed that fans, investors, and creators are willing to experiment with new ways of distributing value in cultural markets.
The new $15 million funding round will accelerate Aria's broader roadmap, including
The goal is to create a full ecosystem where IP isn't just locked behind closed contracts but can circulate as liquid, programmable assets.
Polychain and other investors emphasised that this vision aligns with the broader trend of tokenising real-world assets (RWA). Just as financial markets are exploring blockchain for bonds, real estate, and credit products, Aria is applying the same principles to culture.
Digital platforms have accelerated how content is shared and consumed today. As a result, songs, videos, and artworks can be absorbed into algorithms without fair attribution and compensation.
Aria believes it can bridge this gap by putting IP on-chain. This ensures creators and rights holders remain in control while still enabling external parties to interact with their work.
As the company described it, rights holders unlock capital tied to royalty income without losing ownership or control. Fans gain direct access to assets they value, and developers can build new cultural applications using Aria's protocol.
Aria's next steps will focus on strengthening its protocol and expanding its catalogue of tokenised IP. By onboarding more rights holders, the company hopes to attract music labels, publishers, and eventually major players in art and entertainment.
Programmable remix licensing is also on the horizon. This would enable creators to issue flexible, on-chain licenses for remixes, covers, and other derivative works. If successful, it would unlock new revenue streams while protecting original IP.
Aria's $15 million seed round is more than just a fundraising milestone. It marks the beginning of a new era for intellectual property. By bringing music rights on-chain through $APL and planning expansions into art and cultural IP, Aria is showing how blockchain can unlock new value in some of the world's most iconic assets.
As CEO Vivek Raman put it, "This is the best window for adoption we've seen." For Aria, that adoption means cultural assets will no longer sit idle but become programmable, accessible, and liquid on-chain.
For creators, it's a way to monetise without giving up control. For investors, it offers exposure to real-world cultural revenue streams. For fans, it provides a chance to own a piece of the culture they love.