NEAR Foundation has concluded a $150 million funding round which had crypto-centric platforms such as Mechanism Capital, Dragonfly Capital and Andreessen Horowitz participation.
NEAR is set to use the funds to accelerate its agenda to assist people in acclimating to blockchain and Web3. The Foundation will also take up the learning and usage of decentralized technologies. Some portion of the funds will be used to develop the firm’s regional hubs and raise awareness.
Marieke Flament, the CEO at NEAR Foundation, said they are looking forward to leveraging the fund to enhance access to blockchain technology across the world. The firm has already made its presence felt in Africa, Europe and Asia. It provides support for emerging communities in other regions as well, including Latin America and Turkey.
Ashwin Ramachandran, the General Partner at Dragonfly, said the funding round concluded end to end. He feels it reflects the level of enthusiasm and expectations for NEAR’s ambitious DeFi scheme. Ramachandran commended NEAR for accomplishing a great job from a technology standpoint. Partners and stakeholders in the space want to assist the Foundation achieve a level of developer, user, ecosystem adoption. This will reflect the firm’s current level of technology innovation.
Dragonfly said the funding round was a golden opportunity for crypto-minded investment firms. It has helped NEAR generate $162 million in venture capital funding till date. The firm also raised additional funds through token sales.
The NEAR protocol can operate on blockchains like Ethereum, Cosmos and Polkadot etc. It can bring about a free flow of assets and communication between networks. The network has handled over 70 million transactions. It supports more than 2.3 million accounts. Furthermore, NEAR has 200,000 members and 1,700 actively monthly builders.
