Author: Yogita Khatri, The Block; Translated by: Tao Zhu, Golden Finance
Summary:
Layer3 has raised $15 million in a Series A round co-led by ParaFi and Greenfield Capital.
Layer3 plans to launch its token and conduct an airdrop in the summer, and a new round of financing is underway.
Token distribution protocol Layer3 has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round that will see it launch a token and conduct an airdrop in the coming months.
Layer3 said Wednesday that ParaFi and Greenfield Capital co-led the round, with participation from Electric Capital, Immutable, Lattice, Tioga, LeadBlock, Amber and others. Layer3 co-founder Brandon Kumar noted that the project began raising funds for this round in April and completed the round in May. Kumar said the round was structured as an equity round with token warrants, and he declined to comment on valuation.
Layer3 also revealed its previously unannounced strategic funding round of $3.7 million from Electric, ParaFi, Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal, and others in 2022. The Series A brings Layer3’s total funding to $21.2 million, and in 2021, Layer3 also raised $2.5 million.
What is Layer 3?
Layer3 is a token distribution protocol that enables projects to distribute their tokens to attract and retain users.
“The protocol pool has billions of dollars in tokens,” Kumar said. “These tokens largely act as customer acquisition cost (CAC) mechanisms, and over time they will find the most efficient distribution path. Protocols like Layer 3 are poised to meet much of this demand given our direct relationship with consumers, efficiency, and ability to target.”
Layer 3 essentially unifies user activity across multiple blockchains and applications, enabling protocols to distribute tokens more efficiently.
Kumar said more than 100 crypto projects, including Uniswap, Base, Arbitrum and Linea, use Layer3’s platform, which claims to serve more than 3 million unique users in 120 countries.
Layer3 is also developing a new AI-enabled protocol for optimizing token distribution strategies, which is scheduled to be launched later this year. Kumar said the AI protocol will open up new ways for projects to issue and distribute tokens and make Layer3 more personalized to suit end consumers.
Layer3 Token Release and Airdrop
Layer3’s Series A comes as it prepares to launch its native L3 token and airdrop it this summer. Last month, Layer3 launched its “governance and utility token” L3 with a total supply of 300 million. The initial airdrop will distribute 5% of the total supply, or 15 million tokens, to early adopters and CUBE minters. Kumar said CUBE (short for Unified Blockchain Event Credentials) is a “dynamic NFT” minted after completing a task.
The airdrop snapshot was taken on May 10. Layer3 has allocated 51% of the total supply to the community, while details about the remaining allocation have not yet been announced.
With the new funding, Layer3 plans to expand its current team of 13 to 20 by the end of the year through hiring in engineering, data science, and business development functions, Kumar said. The project also hopes to expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
