Thirdweb, an innovative developers’ platform for web3 apps, has raised $24 million in Series A funding. The money is expected to help the project accelerate the adoption of web3 through innovative apps. The Series A funding was completed at a valuation of $160 million.
HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT🚨
Today we're excited to announce that we've raised $24m in our Series A. Led by @HaunVentures, with participation from @coinbase ventures, @Shopify + more
While there’s turbulence, noise and uncertainty in the market,
Builders are still building.
— thirdweb (@thirdweb_) August 25, 2022
What We Know About the Funding Round
The Series A funding round involved some notable crypto and general digital commerce names. The $24 million capital injection was, however, led by Haun Ventures. The investment also included Coinbase Ventures, Protocol Labs, Polygon, Shopify, and Shrug VC.
Thirdweb did not specify how it intends to use the money. However, the firm will likely look to expand its existing web3 services and bring in as many developers as possible.
What is Thirdweb?
Thirdweb is a platform that provides a series of developer toolkits for building web3 apps. The firm was founded nine months ago and operates out of London and San Francisco. The startup says that its primary mission is to make web3 development easy.
As such, the company is creating technologies that will enable any developer to develop and deploy web3 solutions across multiple blockchains without huge starter costs.
So far, over 55,000 unique wallets have already used this service to deploy NFTs, DAOs, P2E games, and so many other web3 products. Thirdweb has also seen over 200,000 smart contracts deployed using its tools.
In total, the web3 developer kit available here offers up to 10 unique features. The features also cut across various sectors, including NFTs, metaverse, and others. The goal is to expand the service in the future to cover more emerging areas of web3.
Thirdweb believes that the web3 revolution will create demand for innovative developer tools. The platform is now leading the way to dominate this space in the long term, and the $24 million funding will be crucial in this.
Why does Web3 Actually Matter?
Over the past 12 months, Web3 has arguably become one of the most famous buzzwords within the tech community. But why are people excited about web3, and what does it even mean exactly? Well, web3 is basically a reimagination of the internet designed to offer more decentralization through blockchain technology.
Proponents of web3 simply want to cut off the big tech monopolies that have dominated web applications for decades. Web3 will do this by decentralizing how apps are created and deployed online. It’s all about giving back the internet to the billions of people who use it every day.
The implications of the widescale deployment of web3 technologies could be massive. First, web3 is providing the first real opportunity for average folks to own and trade in digital products directly, including selling NFT-backed digital collectibles.
The fundamental principles of web3 also see a future where the internet is fully democratized and free from censorship. But despite these seemingly noble ambitions, we still have a long way to go before we see widescale use of web3 technologies.
How is Web3 Changing the World Today?
The adoption of web3 technologies represents a fraction of the number of people who use web2 internet applications each day. Despite this, web3 solutions are already disrupting several major industries as we speak.
One area that has seen massive adoption of web3 technologies is online gaming. Blockchain games now offer in-game ownership through NFTs and have become quite popular.
In fact, P2E games have often been described as the future of gaming, albeit they have faced significant criticism over sustainability. Investments in web3 games have also been massive.
According to this article on TechCrunch, blockchain games raised $4 billion in new investments in 2021. In the first quarter of 2022, the industry also saw an additional $2.5 billion.
We have also seen massive growth in NFTs as a disruptive web3 force. The market has since struggled a bit in recent weeks, but there is no doubt NFTs are here to stay. This is because these non-fungible tokens have diverse applications.
NFTs are now powering the digital collectibles market, providing support for integrated virtual worlds and giving people a chance to earn from their interactions with the internet. According to data by SkyQuest Technology, The NFT market will hit $128 billion by 2028. The industry was valued at just $15 billion in 2021.
Will Web3 Ever Scale?
Web3 is often seen as a complicated thing only reserved for tech-savvy folks. It’s not the same plug-and-play experience that people get with the regular internet. This has been a massive barrier in promoting the wide-scale adoption of web3 technology.
In fact, this survey by Morning Consult found that less than 30% of Americans are aware of web3, Defi, and other blockchain-related technologies. However, the good news is that blockchain usage has steadily increased.
According to Statista, there are over 70 million unique crypto wallets right now. However, for decentralized and web3 technologies to scale, we need a robust web3 infrastructure that will support the evolution of the internet. It is also important to simplify web3 technology so that it’s as easy to use as web2.
How Can Companies Like Thirdweb Help?
Thirdweb, and many other web 3 firms, are trying to address the infrastructure challenge. By providing the tools needed to create and deploy web3 apps, it will be much easier to incentive developers to develop for web3.
However, at the end of the day, it all comes down to creating useful apps that people actually enjoy using. In P2E gaming, for example, we have seen games like Axie infinity drive blockchain usage to a whole new level.
Thirdweb is also not the only web3 infrastructure developer that has managed to raise decent amounts of money. Binance is already putting aside $500 million for web3 projects, while other VC firms are pouring a massive chunk of their capital into decentralized infrastructure projects.
As long as this trend continues, we will likely manage to solve the infrastructure gap in the coming years.
