Shiba Inu, the team behind the popular memecoin of the same name, has successfully raised $12 million by selling its forthcoming token, TREAT, to non-U.S. venture capital investors. Notable participants in this investment round include Polygon Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Shima Capital, Animoca Brands, Morningstar Ventures, Woodstock Fund, DWF Ventures, Stake Capital, and Comma 3 Ventures, as announced by Shiba Inu on Monday.
Although some investors like Mechanism Capital and Shima Capital are seemingly U.S.-based, Shiba Inu’s lead developer, known as Shytoshi Kusama, clarified to The Block that none of the investors are based in the U.S., though the full entity names might not be disclosed.
The fundraising initiative commenced a few months ago and concluded earlier this month, according to Kusama. While declining to comment on the valuation, a reliable source revealed that it was a tranched round, with valuations set at $75 million, $100 million, and $200 million for each tranche, respectively.
The TREAT token, as described by Shiba Inu, functions as the “utility and governance token” for its forthcoming privacy-focused Layer 3 blockchain, developed on Shibarium, the Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain operated by Shiba Inu.
Kusama stated that TREAT will be the last non-stable token from the Shiba Inu ecosystem, with a new token named Shi set to be introduced later this year. Existing tokens in the ecosystem include the renowned SHIB memecoin, BONE, the governance token for Shibarium, and LEASH, a fixed-supply token providing benefits to loyal users.
Although the TREAT token has not been officially launched yet, CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap have already displayed trading volume for certain TREAT tokens, which Kusama labeled as a “scam.” He asserted that the legitimate TREAT token will be minted by The Shiba Inu Mint S.A., a Panama-based corporation.
Shiba Inu is actively developing its new Layer 3 blockchain using fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) technology from cryptography company Zama, which recently secured $73 million in funding. FHE, considered the “holy grail” of cryptography, ensures end-to-end data encryption, even during processing, aiming to address privacy and trust issues within the crypto sphere.
The new blockchain aims to comply with regulatory standards while protecting user data privacy and security. Kusama emphasized the importance of maintaining a project aligned with international law while ensuring data privacy and individual security.
The name of the Layer 3 blockchain has not been disclosed to prevent scams similar to fake TREAT tokens. The blockchain is scheduled to launch a testnet in the third quarter of this year, followed by the mainnet after rigorous testing.
