Prime Highlights :
- Bluesky raised $100 million in a Series B funding round led by Bain Capital Crypto.
- The company plans to expand its platform, technology and developer ecosystem.
Key Facts”
- Bluesky’s global user base has grown from 13 million to over 43 million.
- The company’s AT Protocol powers more than 1,000 apps and supports an open social network.
Background :
Bluesky has closed a $100 million Series B round to fund growth of its social network, technology and team. The investment was headed by Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from Alumni Ventures, True Ventures, Anthos Capital, Bloomberg Beta, and Knight Foundation.
The funding builds on Bluesky’s earlier investment rounds, including a $15 million Series A and an $8 million seed round. The company did not disclose its latest valuation.
The announcement comes after former Chief Executive Officer Jay Graber moved to the role of Chief Innovation Officer. The leadership change allows her to focus on product development while the company looks for a new chief executive to lead its next stage of growth.
Bluesky has expanded rapidly over the past year. Its global user base has grown from 13 million to more than 43 million. The company’s open AT Protocol also continues to gain support from developers and app creators. Several platforms, including video app Skylight, photo-sharing app Flashes and Flipboard’s Surf, use the protocol. Community-driven networks such as Blacksky have also emerged on the platform.
Although the latest funding includes a crypto-focused investor, Bluesky said its platform does not use blockchain technology or cryptocurrencies. Instead, it continues to focus on building an open and decentralised social network.
The company has used the new funding to hire more employees and improve both the Bluesky app and the AT Protocol. It said the protocol now supports an open social ecosystem containing about 20 billion public records. Developer interest is also rising, with more than 400,000 monthly downloads of its software tools and over 1,000 apps using the protocol every week.