Belgium-based Venly raises €21M to bring more users into Web3; here’s how

Antwerp, Belgium-based Venly, a blockchain-agnostic technology provider with wallet, NFT and marketplace solutions, announced on Thursday that it has raised €21M in a Series A round of funding. 

The round was led by Courtside Ventures with participation from Transcend Fund, Coinbase Ventures, Tioga Capital, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Fortino, Plug and Play, Leadblock Partners, Imec.Istart, and Alpaca VC. 

Kai Bond, Partner at Courtside Ventures, says, “The Venly platform provides game developers with the ability to easily launch Web3 experiences. We fundamentally believe that the next huge area of growth in the NFT ecosystem will come from mainstream users interacting with their favourite IP.”

Venly wallets, NFT market and tools

Founded in 2018 by Gerbert Vandenberghe, Davy Van Roy, Karel Striegel, and Tim Dierckxsens, Venly (previously Arkane Network) is a blockchain-agnostic technology provider with wallet, NFT, and marketplace services, among others. It offers brands, games, and platforms the services and APIs to implement blockchain tech like digital wallets for their end-users. 

Venly says its API platform delivers innovation to companies in the blockchain gaming space, including The Sandbox, Aavegotchi, Bondly, Shopify, and other industry leaders.

Tim Dierckxsens says, “The problem today is that most developers and end-users have difficulty interacting with Web3 technology. It needs to be more aligned with Web2 usability, which is exactly what the Venly platform provides. Our APIs and services allow a Web2 company to seamlessly integrate with Web3. Moreover, we want to focus on our marketplace for the mainstream users. The Venly NFT marketplace is easier to use than any other platform out there.”

In a statement, Venly says it will focus on deeper platform integrations within the gaming industry so that game studios and publishers can leverage web3 through a fully compliant no-code solution.

E-commerce will be its next priority, representing a fit for Venly who has already launched a Shopify integration. Next to this, the company will also launch an accelerator track for game studios and web3 startups to support the entire blockchain ecosystem. Startups will be able to use Venly licences at a discounted rate while getting guidance and investments from the Venly Accelerator team and ecosystem of partners. 

The third focus point will be to grow and develop the Venly marketplace to make it “the most user-friendly and widely-used option on the market.”

Capital utilisation

Venly claims that it creates tools and products empowering Web2 businesses to leverage Web3 technology and integrate it into their own business processes without sacrificing user experience or security. 

The raised funds will help Venly to develop products centred around new benefits to web3 users, with a close focus on gaming as well as e-commerce.

In the coming months, the company will also focus on hiring top talent to continue spearheading innovation, as well as striking new partnerships with industry players. The company’s launching of the accelerator track (aka “Venly Accelerator”) will bring new connections too, it says.

On the tech side, Venly will incorporate ‘robust’ gaming SDKs (Software Development Kits), making gaming its immediate focus due to fast scaling opportunities. Next, the company will further develop its marketplace for next-level user experience. By fortifying e-commerce integrations (such as the one that allows Venly users to sell NFTs through Shopify), Venly is signalling its clear focus on e-commerce in the long run.

On the operations side, the company will also launch the VENS Token, an internal token to drive loyalty and engagement of the Venly Market users. It will also continue to keep meeting global compliance requirements.