Paragraph raises $5 million from USV and Coinbase Ventures, takes over web3 blogging platform Mirror
Quick Take
- The web3 publishing startup Paragraph raised $5 million from Union Square Ventures and Coinbase Ventures.
- Paragraph also took over Mirror, an Ethereum-based blogging platform.
- For writers and publishers, Paragraph notes that no immediate changes will occur on either platforms.
The web3 publishing platform Paragraph raised $5 million in fresh financing in addition to acquiring Mirror, an Ethereum-based blogging platform.
Paragraph founder Colin Armstrong will serve as CEO and Mirror founder Denis Nazarov will take on an advisor role, according to a release from Paragraph. Paragraph also raised $5 million in fresh financing from Union Square Ventures and Coinbase Ventures.
Paragraph notes that no immediate changes will occur on either platform for writers and publishers. "All of your writing will remain and you’ll still have access to the same great tools for publishing," Paragraph said in the release.
"We're thrilled to accelerate our mission of fundamentally changing how creators build and grow direct relationships with their audience," Armstrong wrote on the social media platform X Thursday.
In October 2022, Paragraph raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding led by Lemniscap, a web3-focused investment firm, The Block previously reported. FTX Ventures, Binance Labs, GCR and Seed Club Ventures also participated in the round.
Mirror's new product
Also on Thursday, Mirror's parent firm, Reflective Technologies Inc., revealed that it raised $10 million from Electric Capital, with additional contributions from a16z crypto, Union Square Ventures and Variant, to develop a new product, Kiosk.
Still in development and seeking its founding team, Kiosk will use Farcaster to augment blockchain-based transactions within social communities.
"When onchain social meets onchain commerce, it’s more than just posting, liking, sharing and commenting," Mirror Development wrote in a Thursday statement. "It’s being able to share an image and make it mintable as an NFT with one click. It’s being able to discover and buy the assets your friends are collecting and creating directly in the feed. It’s being able to bring together like-minded collectors and community members in a token-powered channel or group chat. It’s being able to tip, earn, and be notified when anything important happens — all without leaving the app."
Farcaster is an Optimism-based decentralized protocol that can undergird new social media applications.
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