LA-based Brainbase raises another $8 million for IP-licensing management

Brainbase, the rights management platform that’s helping Hollywood studios manage the licensing rights to their cultural icons, has picked up another $8 million in financing.

Behind every popular story is an attempt to make money off of it, and Brainbase helps Hollywood find new ways to make money off of consumer tastes.

The money came from new investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Nosara Capital, with participation from previous investors Alpha Edison, Struck Capital, Bonfire Ventures and FJ Labs. Individual investors include Spencer Lazar, Michael Stoppelman (the former senior vice president of engineering at Yelp), Jenny Fleiss (co-founder of Rent the Runway) and David Fraga (president of InVision).

The Los Angeles-based company said the new money would be used to build a payments feature to speed up the process of wringing payments from licensees and to continue building its Marketplace product that connects celebrities, athletes and social media stars of all stripes with new and emerging brands.

“We need to stay focused on building the best platform for brands that own and license their IP,” said Brainbase co-founder and CEO Nate Cavanaugh, in a statement. “With a strong bench of investors and advisors who believe in our vision to make the intellectual property industry more open, efficient and accessible, we are prepared for our next stage of growth. In 2020, Brainbase plans to nearly double in size, making key hires across sales, product, and engineering in the U.S. and Europe.”

The new financing comes as Brainbase brings new brands and spokespeople into the fold, including BuzzFeed, the model-turned-shopping network celebrity and brand ambassador extraordinaire Kathy Ireland, MDR Brand Management and Bonnier. These new branding megaliths join a roster that includes Sanrio, the owner of the ubiquitous Hello Kitty character.

“Brainbase is bringing the archaic, paper shuffling world of IP management into the 21st century. We’re thrilled to partner with this team as they help owners of IP assets capture more value while saving a boatload of time and effort,” stated Kent Bennett, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners.

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