Cryptocurrency Startup Dfinity Raises $102 Million to Build ‘Internet Computer’
Cryptocurrency startup Dfinity has raised another $102 million to fund the development of its “world computer,” bringing its total capital intake to nearly $200 million.
Announced on Wednesday, the funding round was led by a16z crypto, Andreessen Horowitz’s dedicated cryptocurrency fund, and crypto hedge fund Polychain Capital. The two firms were also joint leaders in Dfinity’s most recent funding round, which raised $61 million and was announced in February. Altogether, the startup has raised approximately $195 million.
Speaking on the announcement, Dominic Williams, founder and chief scientist of Dfinity, said:
“The Internet Computer is a public infrastructure that aims to host the world’s next generation of software and services. The platform provides a novel means to develop and host new software systems where R&D costs can be 90% lower, yet hosted systems are far more secure since the Internet Computer is unhackable, and are always available, highly interoperable and better able to preserve the privacy of confidential data.”
While individual stakes in the present round were not disclosed, Andreessen Horowitz reportedly confirmed to Bloomberg that Dfinity now represents the largest individual holding in its cryptocurrency fund. Other investors included Aspect Ventures, SV Angel, Village Global, Multicoin Capital, Amino Capital, KR1, and Scalar Capital.
Dfinity, which was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Switzerland’s “Crypto Valley,” wants to build a decentralized cloud computing network that can rival centralized platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), which have been accused of censorship , in part for booting apps that help users evade censorship.
“We are excited to back DFINITY’s Internet Computer and their vision to host the world’s next generation of software and services on a public network. The Internet Computer is on track to become a critical piece of the future technology stack. This is groundbreaking and a real testament to Dominic and the incredible team at DFINITY.” said Chris Dixon, partner at a16z crypto.
That team includes Timo Hanke, the creator of revolutionary mining technology AsicBoost, as well as veterans of tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Intel.
Notably, Dfinity has not conducted an initial coin offering (ICO) open to the general public, though it has held an airdrop, through which it freely distributed tokens that were then worth $35 million. Participants will receive their tokens once the network launches later this year.
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