Exclusive: Crypto messaging startup Ephemera raises $20 million to challenge Signal and WhatsApp
Crypto’s big promise is decentralization: decentralized money, decentralized cloud computing and, in the case of one startup, decentralized messaging. Ephemera and its founders, who are developers behind the protocol XMTP, say they’ve found a niche in building a decentralized network that they one day hope will challenge messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp.
On Wednesday, Ephemera announced it has raised $20 million in a Series B funding round that values the startup at $300 million. Influential tech investor Union Square Ventures led the fundraise, and its cofounder Fred Wilson joined Ephemera’s board.
Other participants included the crypto arm of Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Faction, the crypto exchange Coinbase,…
