Big bucks for blockchain.
Algorand, an MIT academics-led blockchain startup, raised $62 million in a new round of funding and made some key hires.
The company claims its one-of-a-kind technology promises to solve the blockchain trilemma of scalability, security and decentralization.
The latest round of funding was led by a consortium of over 30 global investors from Asia, South America, and Silicon Valley. Existing investors Union Square Ventures and Pillar VC also participated in the round.
The company also brought on some well-known names in the Boston business community to take the helm: Steve Kokinos, co-founder and Chairman at Fuze, will be the CEO and W. Sean Ford, co-founder of uPromise and former CMO of LogMeIn, will serve as COO.
The startup was launched in 2017 by MIT computer science professor Silvio Micali. Micali is a Turing award-winning cryptographer and scientist and his research focus is on information security and cryptography. BostInno wrote about its seed funding of $4 million in February.
So far, transaction speeds and high fees have stood in the way of blockchain technology's scalability. Algorand's platform, which will launch in early 2019, aims to change that.
"Every other platform has to choose two, but Algorand can do all three," said, CEO Steve Koikonos. Its public currency and permissionless blockchain, that runs on an open-source protocol can confirm transactions within seconds and ascertain that transfers are safe.
Company leadership includes Andrew Lo, former governor of the Boston Stock Exchange and professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management, as well as Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University professor who previously served as the chief economist at the IMF.
