Near, the US-based operator of a platform for developing decentralised apps, raised a $12.1m series A round on Wednesday from investors including digital currency trading platform Coinbase, cryptocurrency remittance service Ripple and design consultancy Ideo.
Hedge fund manager Metastable and venture capital firm Accomplice co-led the round, investing alongside Amplify Partners, Multicoin Capital, ACapital, Electric Capital, Pantera Capital and Scalar Capital, as well as assorted angel investors.
Coinbase and Ideo took part through respective venturing arms, Coinbase Ventures and Ideo Colab Ventures, with Ripple participating through its Xpring fund.
Founded in 2017, Near is developing a platform that is used to build and design decentralised applications – software that runs on a network rather than a single computer.
The capital will be used to fund the launch of a blockchain platform dubbed Near Protocol and to hire additional developers.
Alex Skidanov, co-founder and chief executive at Near, said: “Assembling a world-class development team and creating the technology is really just the first step – the next is launching a global movement that puts blockchain technology in the hands of the developers and entrepreneurs who will carry it to consumers everywhere via the apps and businesses they create.”