We are thrilled to announce that we have raised $12.5 million in an ecosystem round aimed at driving the next evolution in WalletConnect’s growth.
This round engaged a broad range of strategic partners that criss-cross web2 and web3, various facets of blockchain technology, and different corners of the globe. This intentional approach reflects our aspiration to bring together diverse actors in the creation of the future WalletConnect Network, a decentralized communications network anchored in the WalletConnect protocol.
As one of the core tenets of web3, decentralization has always been an overarching objective of WalletConnect. Given the soaring adoption of WalletConnect Sign, our remote signer API, we launched the WalletConnect Cloud last year, giving developers and projects the option to use our infrastructure. We have since been steadily simplifying our architecture and expanding our data center coverage to ensure a faster experience for users around the world.
In line with this mission to enable ever-improving user experiences, our Series A earlier this year focused on expanding our product suite and scaling them across chains. In addition to refreshing Web3Modal (all-in-one wallet connection interface) and adding Solana support, finalizing WalletConnect Sign v2.0, and launching the WalletConnect Auth API, we are currently developing WalletConnect Push (push notifications) and WalletConnect Chat (wallet-to-wallet messaging), all designed to be chain-agnostic. These efforts represent WalletConnect’s ambition to move beyond enabling interoperability to enabling communications on a multi-chain-level.
This ecosystem round will now power our next endeavor — the creation of the fully decentralized WalletConnect Network, with the WalletConnect Cloud as one in an open community of infrastructure providers. Given the scale of this project, it will be carried out progressively, tapping into the strategic partnerships established in this ecosystem round.
We would like to thank our investors, which include Shopify, Coinbase Ventures, ConsenSys, Circle Ventures, Polygon, Uniswap Labs Ventures, Union Square Ventures, 1kx, Gnosis Chain, Dapper Labs, HashKey, Foresight Ventures, Smart Token Labs, Snapshot, Dialectic, Hayden Adams, inventor of the Uniswap protocol and CEO of Uniswap Labs, Makoto Inoue, developer at ENS Labs, Ryan Selkis, founder and CEO of Messari, Lefteris Karapetsas, founder of rotki, and Rahul Sethuram, co-founder of Connext.
Words from our investors
Shopify
“Web3 has unleashed a new age of internet-driven innovation,” says Hooman Mehranvar, Corporate Development Lead at Shopify. “WalletConnect is a building block in this growing ecosystem, and we look forward to collaborating with the team to help push commerce into the web3 era.”
ConsenSys
“Decentralization is a core value of ConsenSys,” says David Merin, Head of Corporate Development at ConsenSys. “Over the last few years, WalletConnect has broken down barriers to interoperability and helped fuel the web3 flywheel. We look forward to empowering them on their path to decentralization.”
Circle Ventures
“WalletConnect is enabling hundreds of wallets and apps in the web3 community to interact and connect,” says Jeremy Fox-Geen, Chief Financial Officer at Circle. “We are excited to invest in WalletConnect as their team sets its sights on expanding access to digital assets like USDC and EUROC, as well as web3 applications.”
Polygon
“WalletConnect’s growing suite of multi-chain communications APIs are unlocking a new era of innovation in web3,” says Shreyansh Singh, Head of Investments at Polygon Technology. “We share the vision to empower wallets, apps, and their users by giving developers the tools they need to create and scale extraordinary experiences. The WalletConnect Network represents a major step forward, not just for WalletConnect but web3 as a whole, and we’re thrilled to be a part of this endeavor.”
Uniswap Labs Ventures
“WalletConnect and Uniswap Labs have long shared the mission of building for the long-term, collaborating openly with communities, and putting users first,” says Teo Leibowitz from Uniswap Labs Ventures. “We’re excited by WalletConnect’s growing suite of developer tools and look forward to working closely with the WalletConnect team as they enter this new chapter in their journey.”
USV
“At USV, we are excited about WalletConnect’s evolution from an enabler of interoperability to a web3 communications protocol,” says Albert Wenger, Managing Partner at Union Square Ventures (USV). “The next phase is to build out the decentralized WalletConnect Network as a global connectivity and messaging layer for web3.”
1kx
“We are excited to continue supporting the team on their vision to build the WalletConnect Network, a critical piece of infrastructure that will drive web3 consumer adoption,” says Lasse Clausen, founding partner of 1kx.
Gnosis Chain
“WalletConnect has played a key role in helping millions of users onboard onto web3,” says Teck Chia from Gnosis Builders. “The Gnosis Chain ecosystem is excited to support and collaborate in their evolution to scale web3 onboarding with the fully decentralized WalletConnect Network.”
BitKeep (part of the Foresight Ventures family)
“BitKeep integrated WalletConnect to help connect users and dapps from day one,” says Kevin Liu, CEO of BitKeep. “With WalletConnect v2.0 fueling incredible new features, we are more than happy to play a part in this ecosystem anchored in WalletConnect. We are here to support its mission to help developers build, grow, and expand experiences as millions of more users join web3!”
Smart Token Labs
“I have known Pedro since 2018, and we have always been big fans of WalletConnect and Web3Modal,” says Victor Zhang, CEO of Smart Token Labs. “These two open-source projects have significantly improved the web3 user onboarding process. With many years of hard work, WalletConnect has become a critical infrastructure for crypto and web3, with most wallets and dapps already supporting it. I’m sure that WalletConnect products and the team will reach a new level with these new resources.”
HashKey
“Since its founding, WalletConnect has unlocked untold value for the entire web3 ecosystem at large by providing the fundamental service of enabling wallets and apps to connect,” says Yang (Sunny) He, HashKey Capital Investment Director at HashKey. “As it expands its products and drives even more use cases, WalletConnect will play an even greater role in forging the future of web3. We’re thrilled to support them on this mission.”
Dialectic
“WalletConnect is a really important tool for us internally, which we use on a daily basis,” says Dean Eigenmann, co-founder of Dialectic. “Having known Pedro since the beginning of his journey, it was blatantly obvious that we needed to get involved in this round.”
