Startale Labs Secures $3.5M from UOB Venture Management and Samsung Next to Advance Web3 Expansion
Startale Labs, the developer behind Japan’s largest Web3 products, including Astar Network and the Startale Web3 Cloud, has announced a significant milestone in its funding journey.
The company, led by CEO Sota Watanabe, has raised an additional $3.5 million in its seed extension round from prominent investors UOB Venture Management and Samsung Next, marking a strategic move to fuel the expansion of its Web3 product suite.
This latest funding round brings Startale’s total seed round financing to $7 million, following a $3.5 million investment from Sony Network Communications in September 2023.
With the aim of accelerating the mass adoption of Web3 technologies, Startale intends to utilize the raised funds for product development and global talent acquisition.
UOB Venture Management, a subsidiary of Singaporean banking giant UOB, and Samsung Next, the corporate venture capital arm of tech conglomerate Samsung, have joined forces to support Startale’s mission.
We are thrilled to announce that we have closed a $3.5m seed extension round and raised from UOB Venture Management and Samsung Next. Together with a $3.5m seed investment from Sony, we raised $7m at the seed round in total. Let’s go bold.https://t.co/u5zQfgRK2g pic.twitter.com/qrHl4adniL
— Startale Labs (@StartaleHQ) February 22, 2024
This strategic partnership reflects Startale’s commitment to establishing itself as a leading Web3 company in Asia and beyond, leveraging the expertise and resources of key players in the region.
Furthermore, Startale has embarked on a joint venture with Sony Network Communications to collaborate on blockchain development, achieving notable progress in their endeavors.
The company has also achieved a significant milestone with the deployment of the beta version of Startale Web3 Cloud, a platform designed to simplify the deployment and management of blockchain infrastructure for developers.
Commenting on the latest funding round, Sota Watanabe, CEO of Startale Labs, expressed gratitude for the support received from leading Asian enterprises, including Sony, Samsung, and UOB Venture Management, stating, “With the funds raised, we aim to invest in product development and recruitment to create a truly representative Web3 company of Asia and beyond.”
Paul Ng, Executive Director of UOB Venture Management and lead investor, emphasized the importance of real-world use cases in bringing new users to Web3, saying, “We believe that onboarding new users to Web3 will be enabled by real-world use cases. Startale Labs, with its expertise and experience, is well-positioned to bring Web3 to the masses, especially in Asia.
“We are excited to support Startale, who have the expertise and experience in building successful Web3 products, to bring billions of users to Web3.”
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