Algo Capital, the Atlanta firm that exists solely to advance Boston-based Algorand's blockchain platform, is getting serious.
On Tuesday morning, it announced the closing of its Algo VC Fund at $200 million, double its original goal. Backers include Brainchild, NGC Ventures (the venture arm of NEO Global), Arrington XRP Capital, Eterna Capital, GSR, Cognitive Blockchain, Rokk3r Inc, Wibson, 11-11 Ventures, DG Ventures, Winslow Strong, Invermaster and others from around the world.
Atlanta-based Algo Capital builds financial products to accelerate the "Algo," the native cryptocurrency of the Algorand blockchain system based in Boston. The Algo VC Fund is the venture arm of Algo Capital.
Algo VC clearly believes in the product. All commitments to the Algo VC Fund were accepted in Algos rather than in U.S. dollars, and the Algo is the primary currency for all capital calls. The idea is to fast-track the adoption of the Algo as a legitimate payment option. As of Tuesday morning, one Algo was worth $0.537306 in U.S. dollars, according to the website CoinMarketCap.
“Our investment approach specifically targets companies that are creating the next great blockchain applications and infrastructure solutions, and as a result, helping to speed blockchain adoption and bring millions of new users into the Algorand network,” Arul Murugan, founder and managing partner of Algo Capital, said in a press release.
So far, Algo Capital's portfolio companies include security token platform Securitize, decentralized exchange Idex, blockchain infrastructure platform BlockDaemon, and institutional exchange and cross-custodian settlement platform OTCXN.
Algorand is the brainchild of MIT computer science professor and Turing Award-winning cryptographer Silvio Micali, who launched the startup in 2017. The following year, Algorand secured a $4 million seed round in February followed by an additional $62 million in October. The principals of Algo Capital were some of the lead investors in Algorand’s $62 million funding round.
In April this year, Algorand launched its blockchain platform TestNet for the public and invited developers to use and provide feedback on it. Earlier this summer, the startup announced the deployment of the blockchain stablecoin protocol Tether on its platform and struck a partnership with Boston-based Flipside Crypto on an analytics suite for DApps building on the Algorand platform.
Algorand was one of BostInno's Startups to Watch in 2019.
