For the first time ever, Microsoft Excel based NFTs are going on sale. These Excel NFTs are unique not only because they are the first of its kind, but also because their goal has nothing to do with making a profit. All of the money will be donated to victims of the war in Ukraine.
The five unique pieces of pixel art contain pictures of events that occurred during the war, depicting courage from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, people saying goodbye, and refugees crossing the border.
The NFTs were commissioned by Datarails, a financial planning platform that knows a thing or two about Excel. Datarails integrates closely with it and provides tools to upgrade and automate the FP&A process through Excel.
“Excel is the canvas used by anyone in finance to create ideas, innovation and financial models,” Didi Gurfinkel, co-founder and CEO of Datarails said. “In this experiment we took this concept a step further.”
Each of the 5 NFTs will be sold for 1 Ethereum (roughly $1,500 at press time), with the hope that the sales should generate around $7,500. All of the money will be donated to Heart to Heart International, a non-profit dedicated to improving worldwide healthcare, with a current focus on helping refugees of the Ukraine war and other global conflicts.
“Heart to Heart International is a fantastic charity whose mission we believe in,” Gurfinkel said when asked why they chose specifically this charity out of all the great ones out there. “It improves healthcare access around the world by ensuring quality care is provided equitably in medically under-resourced communities and in disaster areas including the situation in Ukraine.”
Although there is some incredibly talented Excel art throughout the world, (Tatsuo Horiuchi, an 82 year old Japanese man who makes beautiful Excel art of Japanese landscapes, is the most famous example) as well as more recent NFTs made from different kinds of spreadsheets, the NFTs commissioned by Datarails marks the first time a typical Microsoft Excel XLS file has been tokenized and put on a blockchain.
“Excel has literally been used as a palette to produce a one-of-a-kind experience for CryptoArt and spreadsheet enthusiasts to own,” Gurfinkel says. “We hope this project will help show the broad canvas of Excel while raising funds for the plight of those in Ukraine.”
Saif Ali, a renowned animation artist, whose clients have included PwC and Porsche created the 5 animations, while Yair Viner, a Frontend-Developer at Datarails with a love for everything blockchain, was recruited to set up the project. A landing page was created on the website connecting the art and buyers to OpenSea where potential Excel art lovers could purchase the Excel NFT Collection.
The Datarails website says that they are a “financial planning and analysis platform for Excel users. As a company we are passionate about Excel and we have a great deal of interest in NFT as a market. The art is the first to merge the burgeoning NFT art market with Excel, which is used by more than 70% of finance teams around the world. Like art, Excel also invokes strong feelings of passion among those mastering spreadsheets for tasks such as budgeting, financial modeling and forecasting. This project is the first attempt to mesh the art of Excel with the booming CryptoArt market.”
While being the first to own something in a new market is already historic, the fact that all of the money is being donated to charity is an extra reason to check out the unique Excel NFT art. If you’re an Excel lover who wants to own a more creative and interesting side of the spreadsheet tool while giving charity to a good cause, perhaps this is for you. Who knows, Excel NFTs may be all the rave among finance teams next year!
To view the Excel NFT art collection click here.
About Heart to Heart: Heart to Heart International seeks to improve healthcare access in the U.S. and around the world by ensuring quality care is provided equitably in medically under-resourced communities and in disaster situations. The organization has delivered $2.4 billion in aid since its founding in 1992 and provided 1.1 million volunteer hours.