Meta: Ex-employees Raise $150 million
TECHDIGEST: According to a business announcement made on Monday, Aptos Labs, a startup that sprang from the ashes of Meta Platforms Inc.’s failed cryptocurrency endeavors, has raised $150 million in fresh capital.
Even though venture capitalists are becoming less interested in investing in cryptocurrencies and other digital currency startups are looking to raise money at lower valuations during the market downturn, the funding round more than doubled the startup’s previous valuation, which was over $1 billion in March.
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Aptos, which was founded less than a year ago, raised $200 million from investors in its most recent round of funding. The business declined to disclose its revised valuation.
Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, co-founders of Aptos, were once employed by Meta. They worked on the failed cryptocurrency project Diem, which was backed by Meta but encountered stiff opposition from regulators and ultimately sold its assets.
Based in Palo Alto, California, Aptos is developing a blockchain that makes use of the Move programming language, which also supported the Diem blockchain and is designed to speed up and reduce the cost of transactions.
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“We are developing upgradable, cutting-edge blockchain innovations that will dramatically improve the web3 experience for developers, brands and users,” Ching said in a statement.
According to rumors, Mysten Labs, a different business established by former Meta employees, is also creating a blockchain that makes use of the Move programming language and is seeking new funding. Investors in both Aptos and Mysten include Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures.
The Aptos fundraising round, which also included Andreessen Horowitz, Apollo, Franklin Templeton, Griffin Gaming Partners, and Circle Ventures, was co-led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto.
