Web3 Identity Startup Carv Raises $4M at $40M Valuation

Quick take:

• Carv has raised $4 million in a round led by Temasek-backed early-stage VC fund Vertex.
• The fundraising values the web3 identity startup at $40 million.
• Carv is developing a wed3 ID solution that combines web2 and web3 gaming data to create unique user IDs.

Carv has announced a $4 million funding round led by Singaporean-based early-stage venture capital firm Vertex. The web3 identity startup is now valued at $40 million and joins a growing list of web3 companies developing decentralised identities (DIDs). 

The fundraising also attracted participation from EVOS (ATTN Group), SNACKCLUB (Loud Gaming), Infinity Ventures Crypto, YGG SEA, UpHonest Capital, Lyrik Ventures, Lintentry Foundation, PAKADAO, 7UpDAO, and angel investor Aliaksandr Hadzilin, co-founder of NEAR.

The LA-based Carv is targeting the gaming segment of the industry, with a solution that combines web2 and web3 gaming data to create unique IDs for users.

“When you onboard a web2 user, lowering the barrier is very important. If you log in with Metamask, which is like a safe for your private key, and you want to log in from another laptop, then you have to memorize all those secret phrases,” Victor Yu, co-founder at Carv told TechCrunch.

Carv’s decision to target gaming at first is based on the fact that most consumer-facing web3 products are in the gaming sector. The company plans to expand to other segments as it continues to develop its engine.

Web3 identities utilise zero-knowledge systems to provide trustless communications between parties. Web3 is the next-gen blockchain-based internet that prioritises the privacy of user data by allowing users to choose what information to share on the web. 

Although Yu admits that the web3 industry is still at a nascent stage, his company has already onboarded more than 300,000 users after partnering with more than 90 games just six months after launching its beta version.

Yu also claimed that of the 300,000 users, 160,000 are active on a monthly basis, spending an average of 9 minutes each, per session. Carv’s decentralised ID system is compatible with more than 20 Layer 1 blockchains, including Solana and Ethereum, which according to Yu gives it huge access to the web3 gaming community. 

“There are currently 300 to 400 blockchain games that have a significant number of users and with that, we already cover more than 70,” Yu said.

****

Sign up to the world’s biggest crypto exchange Binance to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

Stay up to date: