Uniswap Labs, the firm behind popular decentralized exchange Uniswap, has raised $165 million in a Series B funding round led by Polychain Capital.
The latest financing event valued Uniswap Labs at $1.66 billion, the company said, and saw participation from long-term investors in the firm such as a16z crypto, Paradigm, SV Angel, and Variant.
Sponsored
Uniswap is the largest DEX protocol in terms of trade volume, registering more than 45% of the market total, according to data from DefiLlama. Furthermore the protocol’s native UNI token holds a market cap of $4.4 billion at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap.
Uniswap recently teased the release of several new products. One such feature is functionality that would enable the trade of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from multiple marketplaces on its platform. Uniswap Founder and CEO Hayden Adams stated that the company is investing into the expansion of Uniswap’s global presence.
“Now, Uniswap Labs is bringing the powerful simplicity and security that has defined the Uniswap Protocol to even more people across the world by investing in our web app and developer tools, launching NFTs, moving into mobile — and more!” he emphasized.
Hayden also underlined that, as Uniswap Labs focuses on shipping new products and functionality, the Uniswap ecosystem will continue to grow on its own in a variety of ways.
“As an example, the governance community recently voted to create the Uniswap Foundation, which will contribute to the Protocol’s decentralized development and give at least $60 million in grants to community projects over the next few years,” he said.
Uniswap’s successful funding round comes amid lessened interest in crypto from the venture capital funding market. According to Pitchbook, in Q3, VC capital inflows into crypto projects fell 37% year-on-year to $4.44 billion, the industry’s lowest recorded level since 2021.
The crypto market as a whole has also been experiencing massive sell-off, leading to a shrunken total market capitalization of $927 billion–almost 69% down from its all-time high of just over $3 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
On the Flipside
- Despite its dominance, Uniswap’s trade volume has fallen by 65% over the last month, according to DefiLlama.
- Uniswap Labs has yet to discuss the full range of products it intends to release.
Why You Should Care
Uniswap is the largest decentralized exchange in the sector, and the persistent attention and funding from venture capital firms suggests that Uniswap Labs still has a lot to offer to users and investors alike.
Read about another crypto startup that managed to raise $40 million despite the bear market:
Nxyz Raises $40M to Unlock Faster Blockchain Indexing
