FWB
also invests · investor profileIdyllwild, US · 11 known investors
FWB is a members-only community and cultural organization for artists, technologists, and builders that organizes events, funds projects, and operates as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
Also known as Friends With Benefits · FWB DAO
Investors · 11
Also in the syndicate · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Friends With Benefits (FWB) is a token-gated online community and decentralized autonomous organization made up of creatives, artists, writers, musicians, software engineers and startup founders oriented around web3 and decentralized technology. Membership is obtained by application; once approved, prospective members acquire $FWB tokens, which are used to collectively fund and govern community activities and to gate access to the community's Discord, where dozens of topic channels cover culture and crypto. FWB describes itself as "a new kind of social network," and local press characterizes it as both a company providing professional services connected to NFTs and blockchain and a social network adjacent to that company, with an emphasis that is more social than financial.
FWB's activities span an editorial platform publishing original writing on decentralized technology and its surrounding culture, online and in-person events including conversations, radio shows, afterparties and local meetups (including a London chapter), a micro social networking app, an online bazaar, and adjacent spin-out projects such as List3n, which supports emerging web3 artists through unconditional grant funds. Its most visible undertaking is FWB FEST, an annual multi-day gathering at the Idyllwild Arts Academy campus in Idyllwild, California, organized around music, ideas and experiences programming. The organization uses "Mayor" as its term for chief executive and is governed with a democratically elected council; a governance section is maintained on its website. Earlier in 2024 FWB's product team was spun out into a separate C Corp, Scene Infrastructure Company, in which the DAO retains a 30 percent stake and which focuses on expanding the utility of the $FWB token. FWB has also been migrating its token.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 4
by search overlapCompanies competing with FWB for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 10
launches, deals, and filingsFWB announced that FWB FEST returns to Idyllwild, CA on July 31–August 2, 2026 for its fifth edition.
FWB promotes World Build, a five-month program for founders creating applications on World, described as a global network of 38M+ users across 160 countries; applications open through April 23rd, 2026.
Fourth year of the festival in Idyllwild, structured around three schedules — Music, Ideas and Experiences — including amphitheater and sunset concerts, after-hours parties, panels on technology, commerce and art, yoga, nature walks, pool parties, a tattoo popup and an AI-powered perfume maker. Paul Tao is identified as FWB Co-Founder and Festival Director.
The third edition of FWB FEST was scheduled for August 2024 in Idyllwild, California, with a roster including Perfume Genius, Nala Sinephro, Iman Europe and Vérité.
SIC, the C Corp spun out of FWB's product team, closed a $3 million seed round led by a16z.
$3M source ↗
Earlier in 2024, FWB's product team was spun out as a C Corp named Scene Infrastructure Company (SIC), focused on expanding the utility of the $FWB token. The DAO holds a 30 percent share in the new entity.
A democratically elected council appointed Greg Bresnitz as 'Mayor' (FWB's term for CEO) in December, making him the DAO's third leader after co-founder Trevor McFedries and inaugural Mayor Alex Zhang. Bresnitz had previously joined the membership committee, built the events program and led partnerships.
FWB engaged FORM Productions to produce, book and market FWB Fest at Idyllwild Arts Academy, CA. The event, dubbed 'crypto Woodstock' by The Washington Post, featured performances by James Blake, Pussy Riot, Oneohtrix Point Never and JPEGMAFIA, plus a wine garden, sound baths, stargazing, a pool party, and a digital art gallery in collaboration with NFT marketplace OpenSea.
Andreessen Horowitz Crypto led a $10 million round for FWB; the raise was reported as contentious among some DAO members who viewed ROI-driven venture capital as antithetical to DAO principles.
$10M source ↗
FWB was launched in 2020 by Trevor McFedries, who previously worked as a DJ, as an early Artist Advocate at Spotify, and led Brud (creator of CGI influencer Lil Miquela) and Dapper Labs.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- FWBfwb.help · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does FWB do?
- Friends With Benefits is a token-gated DAO and cultural community for creatives and builders that runs events, editorial and the annual FWB FEST.
- Who are FWB's investors?
- FWB's investors include a16z crypto, Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase Ventures, Collab+Currency, DeepTech Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Nascent, Spice Capital and 2 more.
- Where is FWB headquartered?
- FWB is headquartered in Idyllwild, US.