Sequoia's own page dates its Brud bet to a 2016 seed

The persona

Lil Miquela, the CGI figure who has posted as a Los Angeles-based singer and model since 2016, is a product of Brud, a media studio founded by Trevor McFedries. Brud's own federal paperwork records an earlier corporate name, "Miquela Media, Inc.", incorporated in Delaware in 2016, before the company later filed under the name Brud Inc. Sequoia Capital's own company page, archived by the Wayback Machine, says the firm first spoke with McFedries in 2016 "when he was raising a Seed" and that "a week after our initial phone call, we led Brud's Seed, and are proud to have partnered on every raise since." That page names Stephanie Zhan, a Sequoia partner, as the deal contact.

What the documents establish

Two primary records exist for this relationship, and they describe different moments. Sequoia's own company profile dates its first commitment to 2016 and describes a pattern of "partnering on every raise since," without naming any specific round a "Series A." Separately, a Form D filed with the SEC on 8 March 2019 records a first sale of securities on 22 February 2019, a total offering of $20,485,001, $19,485,002 sold, and 17 investors, and lists Zhan among four directors. Neither document uses the phrase "Series A," and neither states a company valuation. Trade coverage describing a 2018 Sequoia-led Series A is common, but the dated filing on record for this entity is from 2019, and this site treats that gap as unresolved rather than assuming the trade label is correct.

Character versus company

Nothing in either filing involves Miquela as a decision-maker; a Delaware corporation raises capital, signs Form D disclosures and seats directors, while Miquela's Instagram output is a separate stream of character content that Brud, not the character, produces and controls. Dapper Labs' own 2021 acquisition announcement reinforces the distinction, describing McFedries as "Founder and CEO" of Brud and naming Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital and SV Angel as investors in the company, not in the character built on top of it.

What to watch

A reader relying on trade coverage for a "2018 Series A" figure should treat that framing as unverified until a corresponding filing surfaces; this is an editorial caution based on the gap between reported shorthand and the dated record here, not a claim the sources make directly. Brud's ownership later changed hands entirely when Dapper Labs acquired the company in 2021, a separate and better-documented transaction.

• Does any additional Form D or state filing exist for a distinct, earlier Brud raise?
• What board or governance rights did Zhan's director seat carry, according to any later filing?
• How did Brud's investor base change between the 2019 filing and the 2021 acquisition?

The safest claim the record supports is narrower than the popular shorthand: Sequoia backed Brud from a 2016 seed and stayed involved through at least one dated 2019 securities filing, and no document opened here fixes a value on the company or the character built on top of it.