• by Colin Kirkland , January 12, 2024

Forbes, the business-focused media company, is investing in the burgeoning Web3 art world by partnering with Rarible, an NFT marketplace to target emerging Web3 artists through a Web3 art contest, with non-fungible token (NFT) event NFT.NYC contributing a prize to the winning pool.

According to Forbes, the contest’s main goal is to provide a platform for up-and-coming Web3 artists. 

“Our collaboration with Rarible aims at recognizing these emerging artists and highlighting their unique contributions in the evolving landscape of digital creativity,” said Forbes’ CGO Taha Ahmed. “The artistry, creativity and storytelling capabilities of Web3 creators deserve a place on the global stage and we’re excited to provide it.”

Submissions entered into the contest will be reviewed by a panel of seven leaders in the Web3 community, including Randi Zuckerberg and Debbie Soon, co-founders of digital art community Hug; Ovie Faruq (known as OSF), the co-founder of Web3 and NFT platform Canary Labs; animator Bryan Brinkman; Farokh, the president of Decrypt Media; Betty, the CEO and co-founder of DFZ Labs, creator of NFT collection Deadfellaz, and Sara Baumann, the founder of NFT collection Women and Weapons.

Rarible’s co-founder and CSO Alex Salnikov says the collaboration with Forbes will help expand his company's mission of facilitating larger communities that allow Web3 artists to better monetize their digital creations.

Forbes and Rarible say they will award prizes for the winning entries, including digital collectibles and grants composed of various amounts of the Polygon network’s MATIC tokens. One MATIC token currently translates to about $1 in U.S. currency. The top 10 winners will receive 1,000 MATIC each, with the top three winners receiving additional 500 to 3,000 MATIC.

Winners will also be featured in Forbes’ publication and Rarible's home page. One winner’s artwork will be featured on a digital ticket for NFT.NYC 2024.

This isn’t the first time Forbes has ventured into the Web3/NFT space. Before the value of most leading NFT collections evaporated, Forbes tried to capitalize off its “Richest People in the World” list by offering 100 fictional billionaire investors in the form of digital collectibles.

The media company also organized a metaverse event in metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox, selling tickets in the form of a wearable NFT.