Jay-Z’s venture capitalist firm, Marcy Venture Partners (MVP), invested in 24-year-old technologist Iddris Sandu’s impact-driven tech incubator: spatial LABS (sLABS).
According to the press release, sLABS first order of business is the launch of LNQ, an innovative, state-of-the-art blockchain-enabled hardware platform. LNQ aims to make the metaverse more accessible and provide creators with decentralized tools to engage with their communities through LNQ’s proprietary, real-time processing stack.
The pair previously collaborated on Augmented Reality endeavors with Beyoncé’s Ivy Park, Nipsey Hussle’s The Marathon Clothing Store, Rihanna’s Fenty line and Kanye West’s Yeezy.
It’s safe to say, Sandu is a highly talented young man. His programming abilities — self-taught.
“Iddris has a conscious world view and a youth centric vision that is innovative and refreshing to witness. We share similar parallels in how we imagine impacting people in our lifetime. Partnering with him on this journey and others is very exciting,” the Roc Nation boss said in a statement.
Sandy was born in Ghana and raised in Southern California. He has been collaborating with major brands since he was 13, including Apple, Google, Facebook, Adidas, Nike and many others. In 2019, he was honored with the Thiel Fellowship; a two-year program founded by Silicon Valley veteran Peter Thiel.
“JAY-Z has always been at the forefront of cultural evolution and identifying the next leaders. Aligning with Marcy Venture Partners assists with our vision for elevating the youth as it relates to access and a means to true technological empowerment,” Sandu said in a statement. “The lasting impact of this relationship is not simply defined by the work we’re doing now, but by the immeasurable impact for generations of creators to come.”
