Buying and selling-focused blockchain Sei raises $30M, bringing valuation as much as $800M

Sei, a layer-1 blockchain centered on buying and selling, has raised $30 million, Jayendra Jog, co-founder of Sei Labs, solely instructed TechCrunch. An organization spokesperson shared an $800 million valuation for the spherical with TechCrunch previous to publication.

Whereas many Layer-1 blockchains present general-purpose networks that builders can construct on prime of, Sei focuses on the crypto buying and selling community by way of its chain. Its group is made up of former staff from Goldman Sachs, Databricks, Robinhood, Google and Nvidia.

“Our mission is to construct one of the best infrastructure for exchanges,” Jog mentioned, including that the blockchain additionally has initiatives constructing video games, NFT marketplaces and rollups. “It’s not simply DeFi, however different [applications] that derive demand from buying and selling.”

The agency raised capital to realize the “proper strategic companions, particularly going into mainnet,” Jog mentioned. The cash may also be used to broaden its presence within the Asia-Pacific area, he added.

The blockchain remains to be in its public testnet part and plans on launching its mainnet later this yr, hopefully within the second quarter, he added. Blockchains use testnet durations to run and check initiatives on their community previous to a full launch.

“From our aspect, we had ample runway,” Jog mentioned. Sei raised a $5 million seed spherical in August 2022, however mentioned the first purpose for this spherical wasn’t “simply centered on capital, however to get the suitable set of companions.”

Traders within the new spherical embody Soar Crypto, Distributed World, Multicoin Capital, Uneven Capital Companions, Movement Merchants, Hypersphere Ventures and Bixin Ventures.

In September, Sei launched a $50 million ecosystem and liquidity fund to help new DeFi functions on its platform.

The blockchain has over 120 initiatives constructing on its blockchain. Its newest public testnet attracted about 3.6 million distinctive customers and processed over 35 million transactions in lower than a month in mid-March, the corporate mentioned.

“There can be numerous crypto-native adoption, however there have to be functions which are extra normal and tremendous inclusive for there to be better adoption,” Jog mentioned.

Replace: The lede was amended to incorporate extra precision regarding the valuation determine.