ConsenSys, a NYC-based creator of foundational software for Web3 and MetaMask wallet provider, closed a $450m USD Series D financing round, bringing its valuation to over $7 billion USD.
The round was led by ParaFi Capital, joined by new investors including Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Microsoft, Anthos Capital, Sound Ventures, and C Ventures and existing backers Third Point, Marshall Wace, TRUE Capital Management, and UTA VC, United Talent Agency’s venture fund.
All Proceeds from the round will be converted to ETH to rebalance the ETH to USD-equivalents ratio in line with ConsenSys’ treasury strategy. The company has long maintained a significant treasury of ETH, stablecoins and other crypto tokens, and is actively using its own financial infrastructure, such as MetaMask Institutional and Codefi Staking, to put these assets to work in DeFi protocols and via staking.
Funding will also support the rapid expansion of MetaMask with a major redesign scheduled for release later in 2022, as well as the roll out of a plug-in extensibility system that will allow integration with a wide variety of blockchain protocols and account security schemes. This roadmap expansion also builds on ConsenSys’s recent acquisition of MyCrypto, enabling MetaMask to bolster its security infrastructure and create a cohesive user experience across desktop, mobile, extension, and browser wallets.
ConsenSys will also accelerate the global adoption of Infura’s development tool suite as well as its efforts to drive NFT adoption for artists, content creators, brands, intellectual property owners, game publishers, and sports leagues.
The company, which has nearly 700 full time employees at present, will be hiring this year as it is on track to scale to over 1,000 employees by the end of 2022.
Led by Joseph Lubin, Founder and CEO, ConsenSys maintains a core objective to be an industry leader when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion, partnering with organizations like Work180, CryptoChicks and the Black Women Blockchain Council.
FinSMEs
15/03/2022