Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, former members of Meta Platforms Inc’s (NASDAQ: FB) Diem cryptocurrency project, have raised $200 million for their new crypto start-up Aptos.
What Happened: In an announcement on Tuesday, Aptos said it had raised $200 million in a strategic round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The investment round also saw participation from several high-profile venture funds such as Coinbase Global Inc’s (NASDAQ: COIN) Coinbase Ventures, Tiger Global, Multicoin Capital, and FTX Ventures.
Aptos was created just four months ago as a new Layer 1 blockchain that aims to be the most “production-ready” blockchain in the world. Its founders told Bloomberg that Aptos was valued at over $1 billion after its strategic funding round.
Why It Matters: Shaikh and Ching left Diem – Meta’s struggling crypto project – with the hope that their work would finally see the light of day.
“We are the original creators, researchers, designers, and builders of Diem, the blockchain that was first built to serve this purpose. While the world never got to see what we built, our work is far from over,” Shaikh had said in a blog post in February.
“Since departing Meta (formerly Facebook), we have been able to put our ideas into motion, ditch bureaucratic red tape, and build an entirely new network from the ground up that brings them to fruition.”
In February, Meta announced it had officially abandoned its Diem crypto project and had sold it to crypto-focused Silvergate Capital Corp. (NYSE: SI).
Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) CEO and Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) advocate Jack Dorsey called Meta’s continued efforts to bring Diem to life a wasted effort.
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