AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sending Labs secures $12.5 million in seed funding to build the future-focused Web3 communication stack. Insignia Venture Partners, MindWorks Capital, and Signum Capital lead the funding round with participation from K3 Ventures, Lingfeng Innovation Fund, UpHonest Capital, and Aipollo Investment. The seed funding accompanies the beta launch of SendingNetwork and SendingMe, the company’s flagship products creating a truly decentralized Web3-native hub for secure chat, transactions, and community-building.
Twitter officially banning third-party clients, while millions of FTX users are cut off from withdrawing assets has thrust decentralization and digital asset ownership back into the spotlight. While the ban on third parties exemplifies Web 2.0’s ‘walled garden’ problem, former centralized crypto fixtures collapsing show that Web3 projects could go down a similar path. Data is more valuable than ever, and Web3’s disruptive nature has the potential to grant users true ownership of their online identity and new revenue streams. But the industry still requires comprehensive tools for developers and users alike to build unfettered frameworks and experiences that benefit everyone.
Sending Labs takes on the challenge of building accessible yet secure infrastructures for effective Web3 communication at both the developer and community levels. Sending Labs puts end-to-end decentralization at the core of its products, laying the groundwork for user-led data ownership. Using a multi-product approach, Sending Labs simultaneously addresses the needs of architects creating Web3 landscapes and the audiences that will take part in them.
The two flagship products in the beta launch include:
- SendingNetwork: A developer-focused SDK that assists teams in crafting secure, fully decentralized Dapps with rich social integrations. Builders can add in-app/cross-app chats, notifications, wallet or Decentralized ID (DID) logins, NFT/token-based transacting, and management features seamlessly on a unified platform.
- SendingMe: An encrypted decentralized group chat platform fostering ground-level, user-friendly Web3 growth. Users, creators, community managers, and key opinion leaders can connect socially, securely transact, or reward their friends and audiences. Through smart contract-powered payments, trading protocols, and premium services, creators can monetize projects through P2P swaps, community marketplaces, crowdfunding, airdrops, gifting, auctioning, and token-gated membership.
Both platforms possess a comprehensive toolkit for community management and enhanced social features. Users retain full control of their identification, data, and assets while communities gain full autonomy on interaction, engagement, and rewards.
Sending Labs is co-founded by ex-MoboTap founders Joe Yu and Mason Yang, the company behind Dolphin, one of the earliest Android-based mobile browsers. By championing innovation in user experience and accessibility, the founders grew Dolphin to a community of over 200 million users prior to its acquisition in 2014. Drawing on their experience in building innovative and intuitive user journeys, the team at Sending Labs hone in on addressing the bottlenecks and challenges that impede scalability and user adoption.
“We firmly believe that Web3 and decentralized group messaging is the first step to return data ownership back to the user,” says Joe Yu, Co-Founder and CEO of Sending Labs. “Closing this funding round and launching our beta simultaneously shows a clear vote of confidence in our products and their potential to spark holistic Web3 growth. This can only be done by creating tools that work for builders creating its architecture and for users harnessing its community-building power.”
“Sending Labs' innovative approach to decentralized, privacy-preserving communications infrastructure plays a fundamental role in unlocking the full potential of Web3 adoption,” says Yinglan Tan, Founding Managing Partner at Insignia Ventures Partners. “By enabling true ownership and the seamless transfer of digital assets within native community chat scenarios, they are positioning themselves at the forefront of next-generation social communication. We are privileged to be early partners with this team of seasoned operators who are fully invested in building the future of the internet.”
About Sending Labs
Sending Labs is building the Web3 communications stack. On a mission to revolutionize the way we communicate in the Web3 era, the team's first products SendingNetwork and SendingMe serve as the foundation for returning data ownership to users. The SendingNetwork SDK grants developers the tools to create all-encompassing Dapps complete with rich social and financial tools. Built on SendingNetwork, SendingMe is the next-gen communications app for communities large and small.
