Space Runners
Space Runners is a Houston-based fashion-tech company that creates blockchain-based digital wearables and phygital products for luxury brands, celebrities, and digital fashion collectors, operating Spaceverse (metaverse), Ablo AI (AI design tool), and NFT drops on OpenSea and Magic Eden.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersHouston, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Space Runners does
Space Runners is a Houston-based fashion-tech company founded in 2021 that builds blockchain-based digital fashion products and pairs them with optional physical counterparts. Its product portfolio centers on Spaceverse, a fashion-focused metaverse platform intended to host interoperable digital wearables; Ablo AI, an AI-powered design tool that lets users customize fashion products; Ablo Stories, a self-serve platform that converts personal moments into custom merchandise; and a series of Digital Collectibles (NFTs) released through branded drops on OpenSea and Magic Eden. The company positions itself as the first fashion-focused metaverse brand and explicitly markets cross-chain, cross-metaverse interoperability of its digital items.
The company operates a hybrid go-to-market combining product-led growth (self-serve AI design and NFT marketplace listings), enterprise brand partnerships (luxury collaborations such as Balmain's phygital Unicorn sneaker), and celebrity co-branded NFT drops with athletes and entertainers including Kyle Kuzma, Nick Young, Jake Paul, and Tyson Fury. Revenue is generated through NFT primary sales and secondary royalties, phygital product sales (physical item bundled with digital collectible), transaction fees from AI-enabled custom merchandise, and licensing of interoperable fashion items to other metaverses and games. Capital structure is founder-led, with co-CEOs Won Soh and Deniz Özgür, a CTO, and functional heads of product, marketing, operations, and partnerships; the company is backed by Pantera Capital, Polychain Capital, Accel, Jump Crypto and individual investors including Yat Siu and Justin Kan following a $10 million seed round in March 2022.
Space Runners firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Space Runners
- Legal name
- Space Runners
- Website
- https://spacerunners.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Space Runners is a Houston-based fashion-tech company that creates blockchain-based digital wearables and phygital products for luxury brands, celebrities, and digital fashion collectors, operating Spaceverse (metaverse), Ablo AI (AI design tool), and NFT drops on OpenSea and Magic Eden.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Space Runners industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Fashion & NFT Wearables
- NAICS
- Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers (458110), Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Retailers (45942)
- SIC
- Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600), Sporting & Athletic Goods, Nec (3949)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Virtual Styling & Outfit Planning (HSACAJAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Metaverse & Social Virtual Worlds (BPAMAKAF), Digital Sports Collectibles Retail (NFTs) (CRAMAOAK)
Keywords
Where Space Runners is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Houston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Space Runners business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- NFT Digital Collectibles: Sale of blockchain-based fashion NFTs and digital collectibles through primary sales and secondary marketplace royalties
- Phygital Product Sales: Sale of physical products paired with digital NFT collectibles, such as the Balmain x Space Runners Unicorn sneaker collection
- Custom Merchandise: AI-powered design tool enables users to create personalized merchandise through Ablo Stories platform
- Interoperable Fashion Items: Supply of fashion items for different metaverses and games as digital wearables
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Space Runners product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Space Runners operates a fashion-tech platform that creates and sells blockchain-based digital fashion items, NFT collectibles, and phygital products bridging physical apparel with digital wearables for use across metaverses and games. Its portfolio includes the Spaceverse fashion metaverse, the Ablo AI-powered design and customization tool, the Ablo Stories custom merchandise platform, and co-branded Digital Collectibles such as the Balmain Unicorn, NBA Champions, Jake Paul, Tyson Fury, and SmileyWorld NFT collections.
Product overview
Space Runners operates as a fashion-tech platform with a multi-product portfolio centered on bridging physical and digital fashion. The core offerings include Spaceverse (a fashion-focused metaverse), Ablo AI (AI-powered design tool), and Ablo Stories (AI-enhanced merchandise customization). The company also offers Digital Collectibles as NFT-based fashion items. The platform enables users to create, collaborate, and launch collections in both physical and digital worlds, positioning itself as the first dedicated fashion brand for the metaverse.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Ablo AI: AI powered design tool that enables anyone to customize products
- Spaceverse
- Ablo Stories
Products and services
- Spaceverse Fashion-focused metaverse platform that serves as the primary virtual environment for digital fashion experiences and provides interoperability with other metaverses and games.
- Ablo AI AI-powered design tool that enables anyone to customize products for both physical and digital worlds through generative image-based design.
- Ablo Stories Self-serve platform that empowers users to convert cherished moments into custom-designed merchandise through AI-enhanced design tools, producing personalized items for self-use or gifting in seconds.
- Digital Collectibles (NFT wearables and collectibles line) NFT-based digital fashion items and collectibles sold across multiple collections and brand collaborations, designed to be used as wearables across metaverses and games.
Quantifiable outcome
- First fashion NFT collection on Solana
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Space Runners
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Space Runners technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature4 records
Space Runners partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
18 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, major and minor.
- BalmainflagshipLuxury fashion house collaboration on the first phygital Unicorn sneaker collection, combining physical sneakers with digital NFT wearables that unlock special powers and bridge Web2 with Web3.
- Kyle KuzmamajorNBA Champion basketball player collaborated on the NBA Champions sneaker NFT collection, the first Fashion NFTs on Solana.
- Nick YoungmajorNBA player collaborated on the NBA Champions sneaker NFT collection with Kyle Kuzma.
- Jake PaulmajorYouTube personality collaborated on #EndBullying charity NFT collection, with all proceeds donated to Boxing Bullies charity.
- Tyson FurymajorProfessional boxer collaborated on boxing-themed fashion NFT that broke records as the highest valued auction on Solana.
- Kevin MaminorFounder & CEO of Hypebeast serves as advisor to Space Runners.
- Dan BuntingminorCo-Studio Head at Treyarch (Call of Duty) serves as advisor.
- Ray ChanminorCo-founder & CEO of 9GAG serves as advisor.
- Steve GoldfederminorCo-founder of Arbitrum | Offchain Labs serves as advisor.
- Kun GaominorCo-founder of Crunchyroll serves as advisor.
- Holly LiuminorCo-founder of Kabam serves as advisor.
- Isaac ZuminorCOO of Nansen serves as advisor.
- Kevin LinminorCo-founder of Twitch serves as advisor.
- Patrick LeeminorCo-founder & CEO of Rotten Tomatoes serves as advisor.
- Ashwin NavinminorCo-founder of BitTorrent serves as advisor.
- Randy ChungminorCTO of WENEW serves as advisor.
- Mehmet KorutürkminorCo-founder of Vanguart Watches serves as advisor.
- Megan KasparminorFounding Member of RED DAO serves as advisor.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Space Runners competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- RTFKT Studios: Digital fashion and sneaker NFT studio acquired by Nike in 2021. Closest direct comparable — produces virtual sneakers and apparel with phygital drops, celebrity collabs, and metaverse wearables, but operates with Nike's resources and brand.
- The Fabricant: Pioneer digital-only fashion house selling couture NFTs and virtual garments. Direct comparable on digital fashion creation, NFT drops, and luxury brand collaborations (Diesel, Tommy Hilfiger).
- DressX: Digital fashion marketplace and wardrobe platform for AR/metaverse wearables. Direct peer on consumer-facing digital apparel purchase, with overlapping fashion-house partnerships and phygital ambitions.
Broad incumbents
- Roblox: Largest metaverse platform with a robust virtual fashion and avatar apparel economy via its UGC marketplace. A potential partner AND competitor — Roblox could license Space Runners wearables or build its own premium fashion offerings.
- Decentraland: Established blockchain-based metaverse where digital wearables are a core economy. Direct interoperability target for Space Runners' cross-chain fashion items and a benchmark for on-chain virtual fashion demand.
- Zepeto: Asia-leading avatar metaverse with deep fashion brand partnerships (Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Nike). Comparable for digital fashion-on-metaverse model and provides geographic benchmark for cross-region demand.
- Gucci Vault / Gucci Metaverse: Luxury house's dedicated Web3/NFT platform (Superplastic, 10KTF collaborations). Represents both a customer archetype for Space Runners and an in-house competitor as brands build native digital fashion capabilities.
- Adidas Into the Metaverse: Adidas's metaverse and phygital NFT initiative (Bored Ape, gmoney, Punks Comic collaborations). Closest peer among traditional athletic brands for sneakers-as-NFT with physical redemption.
Emerging players
- ANICHESS: Animoca Brands' chess gaming platform exploring digital collectibles and wearables in a Web3 game context. Connected via shared Animoca/Yat Siu investor network and broader GameFi-fashion crossover.
- Overpriced.gg: NFT-native digital fashion brand selling metaverse wearables and streetwear-style avatars on Ethereum. Comparable on target customer (crypto-native fashion collectors) and product category (digital-only wearables).
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Space Runners social profiles
Digital presenceSpace Runners financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Space Runners leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Space Runners funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors10 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Space Runners M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Space Runners
What does Space Runners do?
Space Runners operates a fashion-tech platform that creates and sells blockchain-based digital fashion items, NFT collectibles, and phygital products bridging physical apparel with digital wearables for use across metaverses and games. Its portfolio includes the Spaceverse fashion metaverse, the Ablo AI-powered design and customization tool, the Ablo Stories custom merchandise platform, and co-branded Digital Collectibles such as the Balmain Unicorn, NBA Champions, Jake Paul, Tyson Fury, and SmileyWorld NFT collections.
Is Space Runners a public or private company?
Space Runners is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Space Runners founded?
Space Runners was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Space Runners based?
Space Runners is headquartered in Houston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Space Runners make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. NFT Digital Collectibles are the primary driver. The others are phygital Product Sales, custom Merchandise and interoperable Fashion Items.
Who are Space Runners's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are RTFKT Studios, The Fabricant and DressX. Broad incumbents are Roblox, Decentraland, Zepeto, Gucci Vault / Gucci Metaverse and Adidas Into the Metaverse. Emerging players are ANICHESS and Overpriced.gg.
Does Space Runners have an API?
No public API is recorded for Space Runners.
What industry is Space Runners in?
Space Runners's product category is Digital Fashion & NFT Wearables. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HSACAJAF, Virtual Styling & Outfit Planning, with a secondary code of BPAMAKAF, Metaverse & Social Virtual Worlds. Its NAICS code is 458110 and its SIC code is 5600.