A group of Meta’s ex-employees that worked on Diem, and abandoned the company in December, are now dedicated to developing their own blockchain system aiming for it to be used by millions. Aptos, the startup the group founded, has announced the company raised $200 million in its first funding round, which was qualified as “strategic.” The company had the support of several VC companies in this funding round, including Tiger Global, Katie Haun, Multicoin Capital, 3 Arrows Capital, FTX Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures, putting it at unicorn status.
Aptos will make use of the funds to build a more scalable blockchain, which users and companies can rely upon without having to pay exorbitant fees. While some blockchains already on the market today claim to do just this, the Aptos team believes there is room for improvement in this area. Aptos CTO Avery Ching told Techcrunch: