In the most recent instance of a for-profit corporation using NFTs for charity, Kia’s US subsidiary issued its first digital collectables earlier this year to generate donations for a US group trying to reduce overcrowding in animal shelters.
Now, the results are in. The automobile manufacturer collected $100,000 for the non-profit The Petfinder Foundation by auctioning off hundreds of NFTs featuring robotic puppies. This cash, together with an extra $500,000 from Kia, has now paid the adoption fees for almost 22,000 shelter animals, the business said on Tuesday.
The NFTs, released in February 2022, feature “Robo Dog,” the robotic dog who starred in Kia’s Super Bowl advertisement from the previous year. In doing so, Kia became the most recent company to support the increasing donation-via-digital-collectable trend. NFTs have been used to generate funds for the imprisoned creator of Silk Road, as well as for charity initiatives by companies like Starbucks. In London, even NFT vending machines have joined the game.
The digital collectables, which were priced at $20.22 apiece, were sold out on the Sweet NFT marketplace on the same day, producing $100,000. A number of pricey and uncommon NFTs also contributed to the six-figure fundraising total.
When a Robo Dog is resold, 10% of the creator’s royalties will be paid to Petfinder — not Kia — as stipulated by their smart contracts.
A Kia spokeswoman told Blockworks in a statement that Sweet was chosen “because to their general knowledge of Kia’s brand approach and their user-friendly platform that enables payment options outside.”
During the height of the Covid-19 epidemic, when Kia’s US division was analyzing its philanthropic contributions, its officials saw an increase in pet adoptions, or “pandemic pets,” according to the firm. Eventually, the insight led to the company’s NFT activities.
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