Squads Labs, the lead developer of the Solana-based multisig protocol Squads, has raised $5.7 million in a strategic funding round.
The round was led by Placeholder VC, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Solana Ventures, Jump Crypto and others, Squads Labs said on Monday. Angel investors including Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana Labs; Lucas Bruder, CEO of Jito Labs; and Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs, also backed the round.
This was an equity round with token warrants, Stepan Simkin, co-founder of Squads Labs, told The Block. He does not want to comment on the valuation.
Squads started recruiting players for the strategic round in April this year and concluded it in July, Simkin said. The round brings the company’s total funding to date to $12.5 million, following a $5 million round last year and a $1.5 million round in 2021.
What is the Squads Protocol?
Squads is a multisig protocol that helps crypto companies secure and manage their digital assets on-chain. Squads can be seen as a competitor to custody companies like Fireblocks and Copper, but Squads’ biggest competitive advantage is its smart contract wallet system, which, unlike multi-party computation, exists entirely on-chain and is completely transparent and immutable. , Simkin said. Squads’ sole focus on Solana also helps according to Simkin, who noted that other companies try to cover all blockchains at the same time, which can lead to compatibility and user experience issues.
Squads Labs also offers a web app with SquadsX and Squads Pro products. The Squads web app is built on top of the Squads protocol that allows crypto companies to manage their developer and treasury assets via multisig. SquadsX, on the other hand, is a browser extension wallet that acts as a companion tool for the app. Squads Pro is a paid subscription that costs $399 per month and offers more features.
Squads iOS product
Since launching in 2021, Squads said it has helped secure more than $500 million in assets for more than 100 customers, including Helium, Jito, Pyth and Tensor. Now, with new funding in hand, Squads plans to grow further by expanding its offerings and launching its retail-focused iOS product later this year, Simkin said.
“The entire Solana ecosystem learned important lessons about the risks of centralization in the collapse of FTX, and a silver lining of that collapse was that it pushed many teams deeper into the decentralization frontier,” said Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder VC, in a statement. “There is little reason to accept the risk of centralized counterparty custody when you have a tool like Squads at your disposal.”
Eleven people currently work for Squads Labs, and Simkin plans to keep the team lean for the foreseeable future.