Web3 Startup Unstoppable Domains Hits Unicorn Status After Series A

That didn’t take long.

Web3 startup Unstoppable Domains became the latest unicorn—a private company valued at $1 billion or more—after a $65 million Series A led by Pantera Capital at a $1 billion valuation.

The company offers NFT domains that give people control of their digital identity. Unstoppable Domains has registered 2.5 million domains, and the usernames can be used to log into more than 150 Web3 applications, shorten crypto wallet addresses, and build decentralized Web3 identity.

Unstoppable Domains has generated more than $80 million in sales since launching in 2019, the company said in a release.

“For too long, companies have controlled people’s digital identities, and Unstoppable Domains is putting that power back into the hands of people,” founder and CEO Matthew Gould said in the release. “As the digital economy becomes a larger part of our lives, it’s time for people to own their identity on the internet.”

Trends

The raise illustrates two current trends.

One is that despite a pullback in venture capital this year, many companies are still being minted unicorns after early rounds. Last year saw a record 109 companies reach unicorn status after an early-stage funding round—defined as seed, Series A or Series B, according to Crunchbase data. Through the first half of this year, 50 such early-stage unicorns have been minted—at nearly the same pace as 2021.

The second trend is investors increasing interest in Web3. Earlier this week, Palo Alto, California-based Web3 startup Aptos Labs closed a $150 million Series A led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto at a $2 billion valuation.

According to Crunchbase data, VC-backed blockchain startups have raised nearly $11.5 billion thus far this year. That number puts it on a similar pace to last year, when more than $20.4 billion poured into the space.

Other investors who participated in the Series A include Mayfield1, Gaingels, Alchemy Ventures, Redbeard Ventures, Spartan Group, OKG Investments, Polygon, CoinDCX, CoinGecko, We3 syndicate, Rainfall Capital, Broadhaven, EI Ventures, Hardyaka and Sound Media Ventures, along with previous investors Boost VC and Draper Associates.

Founded in 2018, the fully remote company has raised $72 million todate, according to Crunchbase data.

Further reading:

• Web3 Startup Aptos Locks Up $150M From FTX Ventures, Jump Crypto
• Early-Round Unicorns Still Being Minted Despite Market Pullback

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias

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