Colony, an avalanche ecosystem accelerator, is celebrating its largest raise yet, having received $18.5 million in investment from a bevy of venture capital firms.
The firm, which hopes to create the groundwork for the next wave of Avalanche-based decentralized apps (dApps), received funding from Shima Capital, Hashkey, GBV Capital, and Bixin Ventures in a round sponsored by the Avalanche Foundation.
Colony intends to utilize the funding to finance a number of interesting initiatives that are presently being built on Avalanche (AVAX). Some funds will also be set aside to finance Avalanche liquidity pools in the following months.
In a Medium post last month, Colony explained its ambition, stating that it sought to provide “an incentive basis for creative apps on the Avalanche platform with a first-of-its-kind funding mechanism.” To that aim, the accelerator hopes to enable the community to invest in the most value ventures at the ground-level development stage, which was traditionally reserved for VCs and angel investors.
The company’s open governance mechanism ensures that capital is allocated across the Avalanche ecosystem solely for the benefit of ecosystem projects and community members, with a value generated by Colony investments redirected to the community through airdrops, a buyback mechanism, and staking rewards.
“We are thrilled to say that we have formed tight relations with the Avalanche Foundation itself,” Colony CEO Elie Le Rest said of the latest fundraising. We’ll share deal flow to make the ground more fertile for companies built on Avalanche, the blockchain industry’s quickest, most configurable smart contracts platform.”
Meanwhile, Ava Labs General Manager Nicolas Lemaitre lauded Colony’s community-focused approach: “It’s great to see Colony seeking to create a decentralized democratic financial ecosystem by giving the community access to early-stage projects in seed and private rounds,” he said, adding that this was “very much aligned with Avalanche’s core value: community first.”
AVAX liquidity pools will get 30% of the raised funds, with 10% staked on the blockchain and the remaining 10% awarded to the top ten Avalanche projects by market cap. Half of the funds will be used to assist the finest blockchain teams and initiatives.
https://twitter.com/Colonylab/status/1465743277894819842?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
The news of the financing comes on the heels of the announcement that Colony would be listed on the MEXC Global launchpad in early December. CLY, the accelerator’s native token, is utilized for DAO governance and liquid exposure to Colony’s value flow.
It has been a pivotal month for the layer-1 blockchain, which is frequently cited as a competitor to Ethereum. At the beginning of November, the Avalanche Foundation announced Blizzard, a $200 million fund focused on accelerating development, growth, and innovation throughout the ecosystem of creators and users. AVAX also hit an all-time high by crashing into the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap; it is now ranked 11th, surpassed by Dogecoin.
When Colony begins giving cash to chosen projects early next year, it will capitalize on the Avalanche feel-good factor.
