Crypto wallet firm Venly raises $23 million in Series A funding

Venly, a Belgium-based crypto firm that provides technology to e-commerce brands and gaming platforms, just raised $23 million in Series A funding.

The round was led by Courtside Ventures with participation from Transcend Fund, Coinbase Ventures, Tioga Capital, and others.

Venly, founded in 2018, integrates wallet and NFT products with a brand’s blockchain, regardless of the blockchain being used (though Venly partners include Polygon, Binance, Avalanche, and Hedera.)

“The problem today is that most developers and end-users have difficulty interacting with Web3 technology. It needs to be more aligned with Web2 usability, which is exactly what the Venly platform provides. Our APIs and services allow a Web2 company to seamlessly integrate with Web3,” said Tim Dierckxsens, CEO of Venly. 

 For example, Venly’s NFT app partnered with Web2 e-commerce business Shopify, to allow users to sell NFTs without having to worry about coding or minting, making the process of onboarding new users into the company’s web3 efforts more efficient.

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With the new funding, the company is developing “deeper platform integrations” with gaming companies and e-commerce platforms.

One area of focus is incorporating gaming software development kits, “making gaming its most immediate focus due to fast scaling opportunities,” said a statement from the company.

Another project forthcoming is an accelerator for gaming studios and Web3 startups which will allow them to gain mentorship from Venly’s team and partners while also using its products at a discounted rate.  

The company is also working on launching an internal token called “VENS” which will reward users for using the Venly marketplace to buy, sell, and make bids on NFTs. Users who end up on a leaderboard will be rewarded USDCs at the end of each month. 

The company has around 2.5 million wallet users with $1.5 million in revenue. Before this round, Venly had raised $2 million in capital. The team currently employs 36 people full-time, and in the coming months will be focusing on hiring more.

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