Advertisement

Microsoft leads $20M funding round for Web3 data warehouse

Crypto startup Space and Time said Tuesday it has raised $20 million in a strategic funding round led by Microsoft Corp.'s venture fund M12.

Space and Time, an infrastructure provider that specializes in decentralized data storage, also received capital in this round from crypto firms such as Framework Ventures, Hashkey, Polygon, and the Avalanche's Blizzard fund. The fresh funds will speed up its engineering and product development with over 90% going toward product and customer adoption.

The startup is working to make large data sets held by businesses on and off blockchain protocols more accessible and automated by using programmable "smart contracts."

Space and Time Cofounder and CEO Nate Holiday explained to Yahoo Finance that blockchains already produce vast amounts of data that will prove critical for businesses and to serve as a provider of this data, companies will need to support the development of decentralized storage.

"There is continuous development of new applications and business ideas in Web3, independent of market sentiment, and that application development and growth is increasing at a rapid rate beyond what centralized data services can sustain," Holiday said

WEB 3.0 on futuristic electronic board background, Technology of decentralized social network connection concept, 3d rendering abstract background
(Photo: Getty)

The round is also meant to serve as a way to partner with Microsoft as well as crypto businesses focused on development of Web3's needed scaffolding, enabling programmers to one day build large-scale applications such as blockchain-enabled games.

As part of the round, Space and Time will integrate with Microsoft Azure, giving Azure customers an on-ramp to blockchain-native data, according to the release.

While wide in scope, the outcome of the company's mission is to give both crypto application developers and large companies a way to access, share, and store vast amounts of data across blockchain protocols.

"If you believe more innovation is going to come out of Web3 — that it's part of the future of app development — you need to be at the center of the development and support for the ecosystem," Holiday said.

So far in 2022, venture funding for crypto startups has slowed compared with levels seen last year with this year's focus remaining concentrated on early-stage startups and crypto infrastructure companies, according to Fundstrat's digital assets team, which tracks weekly venture flows into the space.

Crypto startups logged $422 million in venture funding last week, up from $260 million the week before, according to Fundstrat.

In late July, Space and Time closed its $10 million seed round led by Framework Ventures, which included participation from Digital Currency Group and crypto asset manager GSR.

“As blockchain technology finds applications in a wide range of industries, Space and Time is building the foundation to shape this work in a Web3 environment," Michelle Gonzalez, corporate vice president and global head of Microsoft's M12, said in the release. "M12 looks forward to partnering in that journey."

-

David Hollerith is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance covering the cryptocurrency and stock markets. Follow him on Twitter at @DsHollers

Click here for the latest crypto news, updates, values, prices, and more related to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, DeFi and NFTs

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube