Despite the overall recession in the virtual asset industry, news of large-scale investment procurement by solid startups with technology and vision is spreading, bringing long-awaited vitality to the industry.
On the 18th (local time), 'Bastion', a B2C specialized wallet service solution startup supported by Andreessen Horowitz (A16z), an American IT venture investment company, raised $25 million in funding despite the overall bearish atmosphere in the virtual asset market. succeeded in
Bastion, co-founded by Riyaz Faizulabhoy, former chief technology officer of A16z's virtual asset division, and Nassim Edekwuak, former chief security officer, is a startup that develops a solution to provide secure wallet services for enterprises. In particular, we are focusing on providing customized wallet services to companies targeting consumer-facing platforms such as fashion, education, and social media. Major investors in Bastion include Nomura Group's Razer Digital Ventures and virtual asset industry influencer Packie McCormick's Not Boring Capital.
“We have long held the view that in order to unleash the full potential of Web3, we need a secure wallet infrastructure that accurately adheres to security regulations for NFTs and tokens,” said A16z general partner Ariana Simpson in a statement. Riyaz, co-CEO of Bastion, said in an interview with Bloomberg, “Despite the overall downturn in virtual assets, companies in the fashion, education, and social media sectors still show a strong desire for blockchain. “The goal is to attract 1 billion new users,” he said.
On the 18th (local time), another startup, Bubblemaps, a blockchain data visualization company based in Paris, France, received $3.2 million in seed round investment.
Venture firm INCE Capital led the round, and venture capitals such as Elbank and Momentum Six, as well as French virtual asset influencer Owen Simonin, participated. Bubble Maps visualizes on-chain data through unique circular images called bubble maps to make blockchain data easier to understand. Currently, it supports Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Phantom, Avalanche, Kronos, Arbitrum, and Polygon, and plans to add TON, Aurora, etc. in the future.
Bubble Maps plans to hire more developers and strengthen marketing across social media through this seed round investment. In particular, CEO Bemong said that he will accelerate development by focusing on adding a function to track the token from its creation to its first distribution, which he calls 'codename Big Bang'. “We want to become a visualization platform for on-chain data with different types of visual elements, and we want to further expand this product we’ve built,” CEO Nicolas Bemont told The Block. “Receiving funding is all well and good, but “I hope it progresses appropriately,” he emphasized.
An industry expert who heard the news of the two companies' funding announced at the same time emphasized, "As the recession in the virtual asset industry continues, the news of attracting investment from companies with technology and vision will serve as a foundation for the long-term growth of the industry." did.
