Ethos Wallet said Wednesday that it had raised $4.2 million to hire more developers, help it build more applications for the Ethos Wallet, and create a mobile app.
Cofounder and CEO Nadia Eldeib said part of the money will also be put toward contributing to the fledgling Sui blockchain, founded by former employees of Meta's project Libra, by adding developer tools and infrastructure to the wider ecosystem.
Eldeib said the forthcoming mobile app will help Ethos Wallet reach customers where they really are, and will build on the company’s existing Google Chrome extension.
“The wallet shouldn't be limited to just a Chrome extension,” Eldeib told Fortune. “You really want to think about how are people interacting with their digital lives and how do you facilitate that?”
The company also plans to continue to add to its fully on-chain game Sui 8192, which is similar to the popular sliding tile puzzle game 2048. Ethos’ game, though, exists as a dynamic NFT, with all moves in the game recorded on the blockchain. Because each iteration of the game is an NFT, it gives more ownership to those who buy it, Eldeib said.
“Historically, games have just been such a great way for people to encounter a new technology where it’s just fun. You're not intimidated by the sort of the newness of it.”
Ethos Wallet’s announcement comes as venture capital funding for new crypto-related projects has dried up amid the prolonged Crypto Winter. From the second quarter to the third quarter of 2022 funding for crypto startups fell 50% to $3.3 billion, a far cry from the more than $9 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2021. During the last quarter of 2022, crypto companies raised only $2.4 billion.
Still, Eldeib said because there was less money going around, the experience of finding capital was more personal.
“I think not having the wildness of the previous market enabled us to be thoughtful about getting to know who we ended up working with,” she said.
Ethos Wallet’s funding round was led by Boldstart Ventures and gumi Cryptos Capital, with contributions from Mysten Labs, Tribe Capital, Matrixport, Charge Ventures, Builder Capital, Alliance DAO, and crypto influencer and CoinShares chief strategy officer Meltem Demirors.
