W3 Storage Lab Raises $3 Million in Pre-Seed Round

August 18, 2022 – Sunnyvale, California

Software developer to create a suite of killer DApps that leverage next-generation protocol and marketplace for decentralized storage.

W3 Storage Lab, a Web 3.0 decentralized application company, announced that it closed a pre-seed financing round of $3 million. The round was co-led by Draper Dragon and OKX Blockdream Ventures, with major participation from Lingfeng Capital and participation from other investors. Proceeds from the round will be used to grow its global team and fund operations.

W3 Storage Lab has co-developed a next-generation distributed storage ecosystem that is based on the public blockchain and cyfs:/. ‘Cyfs://’ is a next-generation protocol that reinvents basic web protocols – TCP/IP, DNS and HTTP – to create the infrastructure necessary for the complete decentralization of Web 3.0.

It has been in development for over seven years, practically eliminates latency in file retrieval – a huge problem with current decentralized storage solutions – and has infinite scalability. Cyfs:// has recently been open sourced and is now available to the public.

To facilitate a more efficient market for decentralized storage, W3 Storage Lab has also worked closely with the DMC Foundation as a major developer of the Datamall Coin ecology.

The Datamall Coin is a cryptocurrency that has been carefully designed to accurately reflect the true value of decentralized storage, properly incentivize suppliers of decentralized data, stimulate demand for storing real data in a decentralized manner and create a highly efficient market for buyers and sellers of decentralized storage. The DMC token is already on testnet and will be released to mainnet in the near future.

W3 Storage Lab is developing a series of killer applications for both consumers and enterprises that will make heavy use of decentralized storage. These applications will leverage the unique capabilities of cyfs:// and will be announced in the coming weeks.

Xinglu Lin, CEO of W3 Storage Lab, said,

“Web 3.0 has a ton of promise. But other than speculative trading – of both coins and NFTs – very few Web 3.0 applications have delivered meaningful value to everyday consumers. We’re going to change that. The cyfs:// protocol gives us a ton of power to design a series of applications that will deliver compelling and lasting value to online consumers around the world.”

Richard Wang, managing director of Draper Dragon, said,

“We’re very excited to partner with W3 Storage Lab. They’ve assembled a top-notch team with a clear vision on how they want to positively impact the internet and the world. They’re developing some real breakthrough technology, and the market desperately needs their solutions. Look for some more groundbreaking announcements from W3 Storage Lab soon.”

Dr. Ming Shu, partner at Lingfeng Capital, said,

“An effective and efficient decentralized storage system is a core infrastructure to sustain the next stage of growth and user adoption for Web 3.0. We are thrilled by the prospect that W3 Storage Lab will be the player to deliver a series of products that take the user experiences to a new level.”

The W3 Storage Lab team has developed technology that accounted for more than 50% of all global P2P traffic and has issued a combined total of over 15 blockchain tokens. Xinglu Lin, CEO and co-founder, was the co-founder of two highly successful startups in China and is a prominent name in the Chinese internet sector.

Zhicong Liu, founding engineer, architected cyfs://. Victor Chen, COO and DMC Foundation chair, was CTO of Unisplendour, an internet infrastructure provider, and previously worked in IBM Networking.

Thi Thumasathit, vice president of marketing, is an experienced builder of early-stage Silicon Valley startups with experience in B2C, enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity and ad:tech, as well as consulting experience at McKinsey & Company.

About W3 Storage Lab

W3 Storage Lab is a Web 3.0 decentralized application company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with operations around the world. Its mission is to leverage the power of Web 3.0 to help people manage, control and protect their own data.

W3 Storage Lab is led by an executive team with a highly unique blend of P2P networking experience, blockchain expertise and entrepreneurship. It is funded by Draper Dragon Fund, OKX Blockdream Ventures, Lingfeng Capital and other investors.

For more information, visit the website.

About Draper Dragon Fund

Founded by Larry Li, Andy Tang, Bobby Chao and Tim Draper in 2006, Draper Dragon is a cross-border venture fund that connects Silicon Valley and Asia. Draper Dragon has offices in Silicon Valley, Toronto, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangalore, and has RMB, USD and digital assets funds.

Draper Dragon looks for early-stage companies that would disrupt and transform their industry landscape, and the fund and its partners have seeded and invested in many technology unicorns such as Microport Medical (HKSE: 0853.HK), Ledger, Yeepay, Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN), Otter, 1047 Games, VeChain (VET), Jing Jin Electric (SHA: 688280), IOTEX (IOTX), QTUM (QTUM) and Oasis (ROSE) among others.

Draper Dragon is an active investor in the digital assets, IT and healthcare space, and a core member of Draper Venture Network. Draper Dragon draws upon the substantial resources and capabilities developed over two decades of venture capital investing and startup company building.

About OKX Blockdream Ventures

OKX Blockdream Ventures is an investment institution under the worldwide top trading platform OKX.com, which focuses on exploring the best blockchain projects on a global scale, supporting the most cutting-edge blockchain technology innovation, promoting the healthy development of the global blockchain industry and focusing on long-term structural value investment.

For more information, visit the website.

About Lingfeng Capital

Founded in 2015, Lingfeng Capital is a leading venture capital investor focusing on global technologies that empower digital finance and digital transformation of the economy, primarily in Greater China, with targeted exposure in the UK/EU/ASEAN.

Lingfeng Capital invests in high-impact applications of industrial Internet/IoT space and enabling technologies that drive the trend of industrial digital transformation, such as AI, blockchain, cloud, data, security and high-performing computing.

In May 2022, Lingfeng Capital launched Lingfeng Innovation Fund (‘LIF’), a new fund dedicated to investing in global early-stage Web 3.0 ventures, and enabling Web 2.0 elites with Web 3.0 expertise, collaborating with Web 2.0 and 3.0 / crypto leaders and reputable VCs.

LIF is a thesis-driven fund run by the industry’s most frontlined investors and provides first-hand support to accelerate project growth.

Contact

Thi Thumasathit, vice president of marketing at W3 Storage Lab