NEAR protocol raises $150 million to become a Web3 development hub

“High-performance blockchain” NEAR Protocol has raised $150 million in its latest funding round led by Three Arrows Capital. The NEAR token has surged on the news, gaining 6.6% in the following hours.

NEAR Protocol announced Thursday that it has successfully closed a $150 million funding round to accelerate Web3 adoption. Su Zhu and Kyle Davies’ Three Arrows Capital led the round, with participation from crypto-native funds Mechanism Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Alameda Research, and others. Several angel investors also contributed to the raise, including Alan Howard, AAVE founder Stani Kulechov and PleasrDAO member Santiago R Santos.

“The funding will be used to accelerate adoption of Web3 technologies through ecosystem funding, developing NEAR’s regional hubs and raising awareness for the brand, the projects building on NEAR and its global community to new audiences,” the team said.

Near Protocol aims to use the fresh funds to foster the adoption of Web3. According to the announcement, the funding will be used to “help billions of people learn and use blockchain.” With this, projects building on the Near blockchain will have the opportunity to connect with new audiences.

The recent funding round more than doubled the $65.9 million NEAR Protocol has raised thus far. The protocol’s previous cohort of global backers includes Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Blockchain.com, and Baidu Ventures.

In a blog post announcing the raise, NEAR explained how the funding would be used to accelerate the adoption of Web3 technologies, develop its regional hubs, and raise awareness for its brand.

“We are delighted to have such a fantastic list of backers supporting NEAR’s mission,” commented on the rise NEAR Foundation CEO Marieke Flament. “We are looking forward to leveraging the funding to improve access to blockchain technology in an ever-growing list of countries across the world.”

The NEAR token has surged on the news of the rise, jumping 6.6% over the next hours. It’s currently trading at $19.24, with the latest price spike putting the token up 113% over the past month.

In 2021, Near protocol allotted $800 million for new initiatives to fund the acceleration of decentralized finance while noting evidence that the decentralized finance market is still in its early stages. The move aims to encourage developers by adding incentives to build on the Near blockchain.

Late last year, Near also partnered with Cardano-based stablecoin hub Ardana. The collaboration aims to create a bridge infrastructure that will allow users to transfer assets from the Near Protocol to fellow proof-of-stake blockchain Cardano. With this, Near tokens will also serve as collateral on the Ardana platform to mint stablecoins.