Foresight invested in the WalletConnect Ecosystem Round to Help Build Out a Decentralized Communications Network
Participants include Shopify, Coinbase Ventures, ConsenSys, Circle Ventures, Polygon, Uniswap Labs Ventures, HashKey, Foresight Ventures, and others
New York — November 3, 2022 — WalletConnect, the web3 communications protocol company, today announced that it has raised $12.5 million in an ecosystem round, with participation from Shopify, Coinbase Ventures, ConsenSys, Circle Ventures, Polygon, Uniswap Labs Ventures, Union Square Ventures, 1kx, HashKey, Foresight Ventures, and others.
The ecosystem round lays the groundwork for WalletConnect’s future development, forging the strategic partnerships that will contribute to the creation of the WalletConnect Network, a decentralized communications network anchored in the WalletConnect protocol. It follows WalletConnect’s Series A round, co-led by Union Square Ventures and 1kx, earlier this year in March, which was aimed at scaling the company and accelerating its product pipeline.
“WalletConnect began as a neutral protocol to enable interoperability within the fragmented web3 space,” says Pedro Gomes, co-founder and CEO of WalletConnect. “As we continue to power connections between users, we are now entering the next chapter and focusing on decentralizing our infrastructure, fulfilling one of the promises of web3. This ecosystem round engages partners from across web2 and web3 to participate in the creation of the future WalletConnect Network, which will be decentralized and open to anyone who seeks to participate.”
“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.”
Founded with the mission to connect web3 devices, WalletConnect establishes an end-to-end encrypted connection between a wallet and an app, enabling the wallet user to securely interact with the app and carry out actions such as transaction signing and token authentication.
“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!”
To date, WalletConnect has been integrated by more than 210 consumer and institutional wallets, including MetaMask, Fireblocks, and Trust Wallet. On the app side, WalletConnect has been adopted by web2 and web3 companies such as Uniswap, OpenSea, Twitter, Stripe, and Plaid. Currently, WalletConnect is utilized by users in 157 countries to connect with web3 wallets and apps.
“WalletConnect’s growing suite of multi-chain communication 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.”
“Communication breeds ideas and nurtures relationships,” says Chelsea Jiang, investment manager at Foresight Ventures. “With millions of users and dapps already connected within its ecosystem, WalletConnect is now enabling them to communicate with each other, to allow for more possibilities in web3! We are thrilled to work with WalletConnect to realize a multi-chain, user-friendly web3 together with our builder community and portfolio companies.”
WalletConnect recently released an enhanced version of its protocol, with new features such as multi-chain support. This enables partner wallets to provide access to multiple blockchains, realizing the possibility for users to access the entirety of web3 from a single app. Integrations thus far include Fireblocks, a crypto custody technology provider, who recently announced access to decentralized applications on the Solana, Algorand, and NEAR blockchains for its institutional clients via its WalletConnect integration.
About Foresight Ventures
Foresight Ventures is dedicated to backing the disruptive innovation of blockchain for the next few decades. We manage multiple funds: a VC fund, an actively-managed secondary fund, a multi-strategy FOF, and a private market secondary fund, with AUM exceeding $400 million. Foresight Ventures adheres to the belief of “Unique, Independent, Aggressive, Long-Term mindset” and provides extensive support for portfolio companies within a growing ecosystem. Our team is composed of veterans from top financial and technology companies like Sequoia Capital, CICC, Google, Bitmain and many others.
Website: https://www.foresightventures.com/
About WalletConnect
Founded in 2018 by CEO Pedro Gomes, WalletConnect is the web3 communications protocol. WalletConnect’s suite of APIs has been integrated by over 210 wallets and 450 apps to realize interoperability across blockchains, bridging users with web3’s fast-emerging products and experiences. Partner wallets and apps include Coinbase, MetaMask, Uniswap, OpenSea, Twitter, Stripe, and Plaid. WalletConnect integrations currently span the Ethereum, Solana, NEAR, Neo, Stellar, Algorand, Cosmos, and other blockchains. For more information, please visit https://walletconnect.com.
