Orb Raises $2.3 Million in Pre-Seed Funding Round
Orb Technology, the developer of the Lens Protocol-based web3 social app Orb, has successfully raised $2.3 million in a pre-seed funding round. The investors in this round include Superscrypt, Founders, Inc., Foresight Ventures, Aave Companies, Stani Kulechov (founder of Aave Companies and Lens Protocol), and Sandeep Nailwal (co-founder of Polygon).
The funding round, which began in March and closed in May, did not have a lead investor. Orb co-founder Kimmo Siren confirmed that this was an equity round but declined to provide information about the valuation.
Lens Ecosystem Gains Momentum with Orb’s Success
Stani Kulechov expressed excitement about Orb’s funding and stated that it sets the stage for a wave of new apps built on web3 technologies. He praised Orb for its user experience and continuous innovation.
What is Orb?
Orb is a web3 social app that focuses on building a community. It offers features such as chat and communities to connect users with their friends and like-minded individuals.
The idea for Orb originated during the Graph Day event in San Francisco in June 2022. Initially envisioned as a professional network powered by on-chain credentials (a web3 version of LinkedIn), Orb pivoted in November 2022 and transitioned to working on it full-time. The app came out of closed beta in December 2022.
Orb Communities
Orb has seen significant interest from users, with “tens of thousands” trying the app so far. The communities feature has been particularly popular, with over 400 requests for new communities and more than 5,000 users generating over 15,000 publications and 150,000 reactions within these communities.
Orb’s communities feature is built on the ERC-6551 standard with Token Bound Accounts. This standard allows each NFT to have its own smart contract wallet (ERC-4337) capable of holding other NFTs and tokens, expanding the concept of digital ownership.
Plans for the Future
With the new funding, Orb intends to develop new social experiences on-chain that combine commerce, content, and communication. The company also plans to expand its team by hiring mobile developers and designers.
Hot Take: Orb’s Success Paves the Way for Web3 Apps
The successful funding round for Orb highlights the growing interest in web3 technologies and their potential to revolutionize social networking. With a focus on community-building and innovative features like token-bound accounts, Orb has positioned itself as a leader in this space. The support from investors and the Lens ecosystem sets a precedent for future web3 apps looking to secure funding and gain traction. As Orb continues to evolve and develop new social experiences on-chain, it will be interesting to see how it shapes the future of decentralized social networking.
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