In brief
- 1inch has secured a $12 million funding round.
- The funding round was led by Pantera Capital, an investment firm with a long established focus on crypto.
- The funds will be used to expand 1inch's project as well as the size of the 1inch team itself.
Decentralized price aggregator 1inch has raised $12 million in a funding round, which will be used to expand 1inch’s decentralized finance (DeFi) project.
The growth of DeFi—a movement to create decentralized financial applications—has been one of the hallmark developments in crypto this year. The DeFi industry boomed over the summer, and is now collectively worth almost $15 billion. Now, 1inch, which surpassed $6 billion in overall volume in just one year, is set to expand even further.
“The recently secured funding comes in extremely handy. We’ll use the funds to expand geographically and support extra marketing activities in new regions, such as the Asia Pacific region,” Sergej Kunz, 1inch co-founder and CEO, told Decrypt.
Not only does the 1inch team expect to expand geographically, but this recent funding is expected to help facilitate the growth of the team itself.
“Shortly, we’ll reveal our ambitious roadmap, featuring more major milestones, and, to be able to execute our ideas, we’ll need to hire more top-notch professionals to beef up our team,” Kunz added.
In August of 2020, the 1inch team released Mooniswap, an automated market maker which is set to benefit from this recent funding round alongside yet another of 1inch’s projects, the 1INCH utility token.
“The 1inch team is working on several major projects and updates, including an update for our AMM, Mooniswap, and the 1inch utility token, and this funding round plays a crucial role in supporting these initiatives,” Kunz added.
Finally, Pantera Capital—an investment firm which is focused on the crypto space—was integral to the success of this funding round. “This is a household name in the crypto space. It was one of the first companies to invest in the industry, which Pantera now knows backwards and forwards. So we are glad that Pantera led this investment round,” Kunz said.
Despite many growing pains, the DeFi industry continues to move forward.