Portal, a startup that is a Bitcoin BTC
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-based, cross-chain decentralized exchange and wallet, has raised $34 million in a seed funding round. Investors included in the round Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures and Gate.io, Portal said Tuesday.
The seed round was structured as a combination of a simple future equity agreement (SAFE) and convertible notes, all of which were fully converted into equity, Portal co-founder and CEO Chandra Duggirala told The Block in an interview. There is no debt component to the round, Duggirala noted, declining to comment on the valuation.
At $34 million, Portal’s seed round exceeds the typical size for a seed round. Duggirala said it was more than two times oversubscribed due to increased interest in the growth of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The seed round brings Portal’s total funding to $42.5 million, adding to the $8.5 million raised in pre-seed funding in 2021.
What is Portal?
Portal is a Bitcoin-based cross-chain atomic swaps protocol. The two main products are a decentralized exchange and a wallet.
Portal DEX enables Layer 2 atomic swaps of cryptocurrencies across blockchains. Portal wallet, a ‘completely non-custodial’ tool, integrates the DEX and allows users to send, receive and store cryptocurrencies across blockchains.
“You can think of Portal as a cross-chain Lightning network,” says Duggirala. “It’s fast, cheap, easy and there is no risk to freedom.”
Current cross-chain swap tools, such as wrapped tokens and bridges, are risky because they have lost billions of dollars in hacks and pose some kind of custodial risk, Duggirala said, adding that Portal also does not store user funds at all via one signature or multiple signatures.
Portal products are currently in testnet form and “mainnet readiness is very possible in March,” Duggirala said.
Portal plans and token
With new funding available, Portal plans to launch its products on the mainnet and grow its ecosystem. “We want to support and integrate as many single-chain wallets and decentralized exchanges that use bridges as possible,” Duggirala said. “Our goal is to completely replace the risk of freedom in this space.”
When asked if Portal plans to launch its own native token, Duggirala said the decision would depend on the validators of the Portal network. The network runs on the xport token (proposed ticker), an ERC-20 token, Duggirala said, adding that it is used to secure the network and reward validators for making the swaps possible.
Portal was founded in 2019 and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Duggirala declined to comment on the company’s current workforce, but said the team has doubled in the past year and Portal continues to hire.
In the coming months, Portal also plans to launch an AI-powered investment application that will help users use the AI technology to make “intelligent” investment decisions, Duggirala said.
