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Crypto Wallet Security Layer Webacy Raises $4M
Investors included entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk and Mozilla Ventures.
By Brandy Betz
Updated May 9, 2023, 4:07 a.m. Published Feb 7, 2023, 2:00 p.m.
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Webacy, a startup helping make self-custodial wallets more secure, has closed a $4 million seed funding round led by Web3-focused investment firm gmjp with entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, his brother AJ Vaynerchuk and Mozilla Ventures among the backers.
Webacy is a technology layer rather than a competitor for crypto wallets like MetaMask. The technology allows users to access their existing self-custodial wallets without the need for keys, seed phrases or passwords and provides security features to reduce the risk of assets being lost or stolen, a common problem in crypto. Last month, Kevin Rose, CEO and co-founder of non-fungible token (NFT) collective Proof, revealed the hack of his personal wallet with 40 high-value collectibles.
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“To welcome the next billion users to Web3, we’ll need a safe environment that allows everyone to transact and own assets with the power to protect themselves. Billions of dollars worth of crypto assets were stolen and misplaced in 2022. We’re creating a safer Web3 for everyone,” Webacy CEO and founder Maika Isogawa said in a statement.
Read more: Custodial Wallets vs. Non-Custodial Crypto Wallets
The company also released a safety product suite that includes a wallet watcher for real-time monitoring, a backup system in case the user has lost the keys or seed phrase, a “panic button” that lets a user bulk-send assets to a safe wallet in case of an exploit or hack, and a crypto will, which makes sure the assets will go to a designated person in case of the owner’s death. Webacy also announced partnerships with a number of companies, including communities like MetaverseHQ and VaynerSports Pass plus hardware wallet brand Arculus.
Investors in the round included Soma Capital, DG Daiwa Ventures, Quantstamp,, CEAS Investments, Dreamers, and Miraise, among others. Founded by Stanford alumnus and former Microsoft cybersecurity engineer Isogawa, San Francisco-based Webacy previously raised funds in an unannounced pre-seed round in late 2021. With the new round, the startup has raised just over $5 million.
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