Friends With Benefits

What Friends With Benefits does

Friends With Benefits (FWB) is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) operating as a members club for artists, technologists, and builders creating internet culture. Founded in 2021 and headquartered in New York with a globally distributed membership, FWB serves a community of 5,500+ token-holding members who participate in on-chain governance via Snapshot, community events, and collaborative projects. The organization is structured as an Unincorporated Nonprofit Association (UNA), formed in 2023 as a novel legal wrapper for DAO governance.

FWB's core offering is token-gated membership requiring ownership of $FWB governance tokens, which were migrated to the Base blockchain in 2025 for improved scalability. The product surface includes the membership community, the Event Keys program (facilitating 250+ member-led decentralized events across 40+ countries), the annual FWB FEST flagship gathering (fifth edition scheduled for July 31-August 2, 2026 in Idyllwild, CA), and the World Build 5-month accelerator program supporting founders building on the World network (38M+ users, 160 countries). In 2024, FWB spun out its product studio as Scene Infrastructure Company, making it one of the first DAOs to hold a significant stake in a technology company.

FWB generates revenue indirectly through treasury activities, event programming, governance-approved brand partnerships (Hennessy, OpenSea, Ace Hotel, Taika), and the World Build accelerator program; no operating revenue is publicly disclosed. The go-to-market motion is community-led and governance-driven, with growth through member referrals, Snapshot proposals, and organic social channels (Instagram, X/Twitter, Discord). The organization was funded by Andreessen Horowitz (Oct 2021 lead) and a 2022 round with Coinbase Ventures, Goodwater Capital, and Rogue VC, and operates with a 51-100 employee team under a Mayor and Council governance structure established in September 2023.

Name

Friends With Benefits

Legal name

Friends With Benefits

Website

https://fwb.help

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Friends With Benefits is a DAO-structured members club for 5,500+ artists, technologists, and builders creating internet culture, governed on-chain via $FWB tokens and operating a global events program, an annual festival, and a startup accelerator.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Decentralized Autonomous Organization (Web3 Community)

akta.pro primary industry

Creator Economy & Monetization Tools for UGC (tips, subs, rev share, payouts) (MPAFAIAI)

Keywords

• Decentralized autonomous organization
• Web3 community platform
• Blockchain governance tokens
• Creative collaboration DAO
• Crypto membership club

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Token Gating and Membership: Access to the FWB community and events is gated through ownership of $FWB governance tokens. The token serves as both membership credential and governance rights.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FWB is a token-gated decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) operating as a members club for artists, technologists, and builders creating internet culture. Members access the community, governance rights, and programming through ownership of the $FWB governance token (migrated to Base blockchain in 2025), with decisions executed via on-chain Snapshot votes. Beyond core membership, FWB runs the Event Keys program (250+ member-led events across 40+ countries), the annual FWB FEST physical festival in Idyllwild, CA, and the World Build 5-month accelerator supporting founders building on the World network.

Product overview

Friends With Benefits (FWB) is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and members club for people building culture on the internet, comprising 5,500 artists, technologists, and builders. The organization operates through several interconnected offerings: its core membership community (governed via Snapshot on-chain voting with the FWB token migrated to Base in 2025), the Event Keys program enabling 250+ decentralized member-led events globally, the annual FWB FEST physical gathering (fifth edition July-August 2026), and the World Build incubator program supporting founders building on World network. In 2024, FWB spun out Scene Infrastructure Company as a technology company, making it one of the first DAOs to own a significant stake in a tech company. FWB does not offer a public-facing software product or API—rather, it functions as a community organization with governance infrastructure, event programming, and an accelerator initiative.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FWB FEST: Annual festival bringing together FWB members, held in Idyllwild, CA. Fifth edition scheduled for July 31-August 2, 2026.
• World Build
• FWB Academy
• FWB Event Keys

Products and services

• Friends With Benefits (FWB) Membership Community
• Event Keys Program
• FWB FEST

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Scene Infrastructure CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FWB spun out its product studio as Scene Infrastructure Company in 2024, making FWB one of the first DAOs to own a significant stake in a technology company. This represents a unique model of DAO-to-startup incubation.
• World Build LabscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorld Build is a 5-month program for global-scale founders creating breakthrough applications on World: a global network of 38M+ users across 160 countries. FWB supports growth of emerging technologies through this program.
• HennessyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership approved through governance proposal in 2022 (55,052 votes in favor). Nature of partnership involved brand collaboration.
• OpenSeaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership approved through governance proposal in 2022 (40,847 votes in favor). NFT marketplace collaboration.
• Ace HotelminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAce Hotel x FWB x Superchief Artist in Residency Open Call approved through governance proposal in 2024 (25,710 votes).
• TaikaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTaika Partnership Proposal: Club Mate but make it Web3 - approved through governance in December 2021 (29,714 votes in favor).

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Farcaster: Decentralized social network protocol with token-gated communities (Frames/Warpcast). Directly comparable to FWB as a web3-native social platform targeting builders and creators with on-chain identity and governance primitives.
• Lens Protocol: Decentralized social graph built on Ethereum with profile NFTs and token-gated communities. Comparable to FWB as a web3 social infrastructure play focused on creator ownership and community portability.
• Mirror.xyz: Web3 publishing platform that pioneered token-gated newsletters and creator-owned content. Comparable to FWB in its crypto-native creator economy tooling and use of token-based membership models.
• BanklessDAO: Decentralized media and education DAO built around the Bankless newsletter brand. Closely comparable to FWB in operating a token-gated member community of web3 builders with content and event programming.
• PleasrDAO: DAO that collectively purchases and curates culturally significant NFTs. Comparable to FWB as a token-governed cultural community coordinating capital deployment and creative output through on-chain voting.
• CabinDAO: Decentralized coliving and creator residency DAO with token-gated membership. Comparable to FWB's blend of digital community and real-world physical gatherings (FWB FEST).
• Gitcoin: Web3 funding community operating quadratic grants and builder coordination. Comparable to FWB in funding and supporting early-stage web3 builders through community-governed mechanisms.
• Krause House: DAO attempting to acquire and govern an NBA team. Comparable to FWB as a cultural/community DAO demonstrating novel ownership and governance models around shared passion assets.

Broad incumbents

• a16z Crypto: Major crypto venture capital firm and FWB investor (led 2021 round). Comparable as a broad incumbent in the web3 ecosystem supporting FWB's category, though operating as an investment firm rather than community.
• Coinbase Ventures: Investment arm of Coinbase and FWB backer. Comparable as a broad incumbent investor in the web3 cultural/DAO category, with portfolio overlap and ecosystem leverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fwbtweets
• Instagraminstagram.com/fwb.help
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fwb-pro

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Friends With Benefits