X (Twitter) rival Lens Protocol seeks $50M in new funding

Lens Protocol, one of many decentralized social networks seeking to dethrone X (Twitter), is reportedly pitching U.S. venture capital firms for up to $50 million in new funding. The deal values the protocol at $500 million, DL News reported. 

Also read: Farcaster Raises $150M for Decentralized Network Expansion

Lens Protocol was founded in 2021 by Stani Kulochev, the developer behind DeFi platform Aave. The protocol is built to resist censorship and allows users to mint profiles. More than 411,000 unique profiles have been created on Lens Protocol, according to Dune Analytics, but 70% of users have less than 50 followers.

No plans for Lens Protocol token yet, says CEO

Kulochev, who helped raise $15 million for the protocol last year, did not comment on the new funding effort. However, he told DL News that there are no immediate plans to launch a token for Lens Protocol. The number one goal at the moment is the upcoming launch of the Lens Network, he said.

The Network, which is set to become the main hub of the Lens Protocol, is built using technology from the Ethereum layer-2 scaling platform, ZKsync. In an earlier post on X, the protocol said it aims “to create an open and fair social network for all. No restrictions.”

It added that the platform is designed to be “a place where everyone can connect, participate, and build. We believe that digital social spaces will drive Ethereum’s mainstream adoption.”

Lens Protocol’s planned raise comes just four weeks after rival decentralized social network Farcaster closed a $150 million funding round led by Paradigm, a16z and other investors.

Also read: Aave launches Lens Protocol, decentralized social media platform

Several other social media platforms are vying for X’s throne. These include Meta’s Threads , which was downloaded 100 million times within five days of launch in July last year, and Bluesky , a decentralized social media platform backed by X founder Jack Dorsey. There’s also the open-source microblogging site, Mastodon , Donald Trump’s right-wing Truth Social, Hive Social and Spill, the so-called new black Twitter.

Cryptopolitan Reporting by Jeffrey Gogo