Former Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger Supports Metaverse Startup

Bob Iger, the former CEO of Walt Disney, announced today on Twitter that he is joining the board of directors of Genies, a digital avatar platform built on flow Blockchain, a protocol for NFT holdings and large-scale crypto games.

Iger served as CEO of Disney from 2005 to 2020. At Genies, Iger will perform an advisory role.

Iger tweeted: “I am delighted to join the genies board of directors to help @akashrnigam and the company empower humans to create Mobile Apps for Web 3: Token Ecosystems.”

Since launching in December 2016, Los Angeles-based Genies has raised $100 million in funding, including a $65 million round in 2021 led by Miami Group. That same year, Genies signed partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to become the official provider of avatars and NFTs for artists in music companies.

Co-founder and CEO of Genies, Akash Nigam He describes Avatar Genies as a mixture of different NFTs worn by a digital avatar that users can buy, sell, and trade with other collectors.

In an interview with DecryptNigam explained that after meeting Iger, he offered the giant the opportunity to get “under the hood” of the Genies to play with all of the platform’s technologies and gain an understanding of what the service is all about.

“I am learning a lot and looking forward to help [Genies] They achieve their vision,” Iger posted while showing off his new digital avatar.

According to Nigam, the idea for Genies came about after he encountered an avatar online, and he felt that such images could encapsulate a person’s feelings, emotions, and thoughts in a way that other forms of online communication cannot.

“Our goal was to bring the avatars to the masses,” says Nigam. “We believe avatars will be the next form of communication.”