Latest news with #WalletinTelegram
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
The Open Platform is first unicorn in Web3 ecosystem in Telegram at $1bn valuation
The Open Platform raises $28.5M in Series A equity funding round, showcasing investor confidence in TON's ecosystem The equity round was led by Ribbit Capital, a leading fintech and crypto investor, with Pantera Capital also participating. The investment underscores strong confidence in The Open Platform's continued development of the blockchain ecosystem in Telegram, being built on TON. The involvement of prominent investors and the raised capital will support the launch of TOP's portfolio companies across the U.S., EU, and other key regions. The Open Platform, the leading tech company developing TON-based innovations in Telegram, has announced the completion of its Series A and subsequent extension funding rounds, reaching a $1 billion valuation and becoming the first unicorn in the TON-based ecosystem in Telegram. The Open Platform raised $28.5 million in an extended Series A funding round, led by Ribbit Capital, with Pantera Capital also participating. Including this latest raise and previous seed investments, The Open Platform has now secured over $70 million in total funding. These investments demonstrate the confidence that leading investors have in The Open Platform's ability to spearhead the growth of the blockchain ecosystem in Telegram. This ecosystem is being built on TON Blockchain – a fully decentralized and highly scalable blockchain that is the exclusive blockchain partner of Telegram Messenger. The current strategic focus of The Open Platform centers on geographical expansion. The involvement of prominent investors, along with the newly raised capital, will support the launch of TOP's portfolio companies across the U.S., EU, and other key regions — in alignment with TON Foundation's global vision. This expansion will involve significant investment in go-to-market strategies, regulatory licensing, compliance infrastructure, and security enhancements, all aimed at ensuring sustainable growth and long-term success in these new jurisdictions. Andrew Rogozov, CEO and Founder of The Open Platform, said, 'This investment supports our long-term strategy to scale the adoption of blockchain-based products by leveraging the power of Telegram as a distribution channel. By combining TON Blockchain with Telegram's global reach, we're building both the infrastructure and the consumer-facing apps needed to onboard a billion users to crypto.' The Open Platform is driving the growth of the TON-based ecosystem within Telegram, building both core infrastructure and consumer-facing apps across finance, gaming, and entertainment. Products that The Open Platform has powered include Wallet in Telegram, a digital asset solution seamlessly embedded into Telegram's interface; Tonkeeper, TON's leading non-custodial crypto wallet; the leading swap dApp on TON and the developer of a liquidity aggregation protocol, Omniston; Getgems, TON's foremost NFT marketplace; Tribute, a monetization platform for creators in Telegram; and Notcoin, a viral Tap-to-Earn game, along with many more products. By integrating blockchain technology into everyday digital experience, The Open Platform is creating a seamless, scalable platform designed for a billion users, accelerating the mainstream adoption of crypto — expanding global access to financial services, and enabling a new generation of builders and developers to build the next wave of consumer dApps. This latest investment from Ribbit Capital, which has previously provided early-stage investment to Coinbase, Nubank, and Revolut, amongst many others, and Pantera Capital, is a testament to the potential these investors see in the integration of blockchain technology into a messenger application with over a billion users. Micky Malka, Founder of Ribbit Capital, said, "We back teams that reimagine how the world experiences money and technology. The Open Platform's vision of building an intuitive and open platform that enables a robust digital ecosystem to form within Telegram — a platform used by hundreds of millions — opens a new frontier of opportunities for builders and users on a global scale.' 'We're thrilled to back this exceptional team led by Andrew. The opportunity to support groundbreaking tech and financial products that reach 1 billion people is inspiring," said Ryan Barney, Partner at Pantera Capital. 'We're excited to collaborate with the TOP team and strengthen our commitment to TON and Telegram's ecosystems.' TON Blockchain has been the subject of increased institutional interest throughout this year. In March, TON Foundation announced that several leading investors, including Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Benchmark, Draper Associates, Kingsway, Vy Capital, Libertus Capital, CoinFund, SkyBridge, Hypersphere, and Karatage, have acquired and now hold $400 million worth of Toncoin, signaling growing interest in the TON-based ecosystem in Telegram. The Open Platform (TOP) is the leading tech company developing Web3 innovations in Telegram. TOP is fueling the Telegram economy through both foundational infrastructure and consumer-facing apps. By integrating blockchain technology into day-to-day digital experience, TOP is building a seamless, scalable platform designed for a billion users — accelerating the mass adoption of crypto. Contact
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Telegram blockchain startup TOP raises $28.5 million as messaging platform expands crypto footprint
Crypto has a new unicorn. The Open Platform, one of the main app developers on the blockchain chosen by the messaging app Telegram, announced Thursday that it had raised a $28.5 million Series A at a $1 billion valuation. The fintech specialist Ribbit Capital led the round, with participation from the crypto VC Pantera Capital. The raise was for about 5% of equity and did not include allocations of cryptocurrency, The Open Platform founder and CEO Andrew Rogozov told Fortune. The Open Platform, which also refers to itself as TOP, has raised a total of over $70 million across multiple funding rounds, he added. TOP is one of the key companies working on apps for the blockchain called The Open Network, or TON. And that blockchain is closely associated with Telegram, one of the world's most popular messaging apps. It's a complicated mishmash of entities, but the upshot is that TOP is helping spearhead the integration of crypto into an app that boasts more than one billion users, according to Telegram founder Pavel Durov. That reach has VCs salivating. Investors at Ribbit Capital and Pantera pointed to Telegram's large user base in statements included in a press release for TOP's raise. 'The opportunity to support groundbreaking tech and financial products that reach one billion people is inspiring,' said Ryan Barney, a partner at Pantera. And they're not the only ones who are excited. In March, the TON Foundation, another entity tied to the blockchain, said VCs like Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Ventures, Draper Associates, and, of course, Ribbit had accumulated $400 million of TON's cryptocurrency. Just like the mishmash of entities involved in Telegram's chosen blockchain, the origins of TOP, TON, and Toncoin are far from simple. In 2018, Durov raised $1.7 billion after he and Telegram sold a cryptocurrency to support the development of a blockchain called Telegram Open Network, or TON. In 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commision filed to stop what it alleged was an illegal securities offering, and, in 2020, the regulator and Telegram came to a settlement. The messaging app agreed to return more than $1.2 billion to investors and pay an $18.5 million fine. While Telegram seemed to distance itself from crypto, other developers continued to work on the discarded tech behind the scenes, including Rogozov. And in 2023, Telegram anointed a new version of TON as its exclusive blockchain of choice. That same year, Rogozov incorporated TOP, according to a business registry in Abu Dhabi, where the company is based. TOP is the main developer behind TON's most prominent crypto wallet, aptly called Wallet in Telegram. Outside of the U.S. and Europe, Telegram, the app, has integrated the wallet into its main menu and is available to users in Russia, Asia, and other geographies. Rogozov plans to use the new injection of capital to expand the wallet into the U.S. and Europe. 'We need to support everything related to compliance, operations and stuff, right?' he said. 'That's very expensive to build.' He and his team also plan to use the money to incubate other TON-based projects, including blockchain games and AI applications. In TOP's Series A, Ribbit acquired about 4% of the company, and Pantera netted around 1%, Rogozov said. The company's early backers are Dubai investment firm Vy Capital and Dmitry Eremeev, a Russia-born investor. Kingsway Capital and Brevan Howard's Kevin Hu are also backers, according to the Abu Dhabi business registry. Clarification, July 3, 2025: Updated article to clarify that Kevin Hu, not Brevan Howard, is backing TOP. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
