By
Kofi Ansah
October 7th, 2022
Several investors have contributed to a $15 million seed funding round for Magna as the company helps to automate token issuance.
Token management platform Magna has successfully completed a $15.2 million funding round at a $70 million evaluation. The funding round was led by investment management company Tiger Global Management and capital market company Tusk Venture Partners.
The co-founders of Magna, CEO Bruno Ferrari Faviero and CTO Arun Kirubarajan, made the announcement. The duo previously worked together at Maple, a tool that recommends SaaS tools to founders. Other participants in the Magna funding round were Shima Capital, Solana Ventures, Circle Ventures, Avalanche Labs, and Galaxy Labs. Individual investors like the co-founder and CEO of Messari, Ryan Selkis, and DJ Steve Aoki also participated in the financing.
Magna platform allows crypto companies to distribute their tokens on autopilot mode. The platform enables organizations to easily issue tokens to their teams, community members, and stakeholders on Solana and other major blockchains, using pre-designed schedules instead of manual methods.
Excited Magna CEO Reiterates Company’s Goal After Funding Round
Magna co-founder Faviero expressed excitement about the project’s potential impact on the crypto industry. Faviero said the goal is to make it easier to begin, scale, participate, and invest in the next million crypto companies.
Magna’s token distribution software seeks to make it easier for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO), protocols, and crypto funds to send and receive tokens. Fine-tuning the process is necessary because, over time, sending and receiving tokens has been prone to errors and lacks automation. The company also plans to use locked tokens as composable building blocks to enable collateralized lending, liquid secondary markets, and other DeFi applications.
According to Faviero, crypto founders want their stakeholders to get their tokens in a correct, timely, and compliant manner. The CEO said basic infrastructures for Web3 projects, such as token management, still lack tools available to Web2 technology firms. Commenting on the development, Managing Partner and Co-founder at Tusk Venture Partners, Jordan Nof, said:
“Magna is solving a pain point that many founders and organizations face today when managing tokens for employees and various stakeholders.”
Furthermore, Nof said token issuances could create a powerful incentive for stakeholders, but the process is still managed manually. He believes Magna is building a platform that will change how companies plan, manage, and execute the distribution of tokens. Yida Gao, a general partner at Shima Capital, one of the companies that contributed to the funding round, also said:
“At Shima, we have hundreds of portfolio companies and several have tried to build token distribution mechanisms in-house to no avail.”
Web3-focused Blockchain Startups Usually Get Support from Venture Capitals
Venture capital firms have continually funded blockchain startups, especially those with Web3 ambitions.
Recently, Shima Capital raised $200 million from several high-profile cryptocurrency investors. Dragonfly Capital, OKX, and Animoca Brands are notable crypto firms that supported the fundraising. Shima Capital plans to deploy between $500,000 and $2 million in pre-seed funding for crypto and blockchain-oriented companies.
Shima identified its targets: decentralized identity, decentralized social media, blockchain gaming, DeFi, DAO, and the metaverse. Regarding blockchain infrastructure, Sima plans to invest in layer-1 and layer-2 technology. The company also intends to concentrate on projects focusing on security and the development of zero-knowledge proofs.
According to Shima, the capital injected into early-stage companies will cater to hiring and retaining talents. Also, the funds will address community-building, marketing, as well as technical research and development.
