Decentralized finance company Thala Labs raised $6 million to build on buzzy new Layer 1 blockchain Aptos.
The seed round is co-led by ParaFi Capital, White Star Capital and Shima Capital, according to a company announcement. Other investors include Beco Capital, LedgerPrime, Saison Capital and Infinity Ventures Crypto.
What is Aptos?
Thala Labs is a new organization focused on deploying DeFi products on Aptos, a new blockchain co-founded by Avery Ching and Mo Shaikh, both of whom previously worked on Meta’s Diem project.
The Aptos blockchain raised $350 million from investors this year including FTX, a16z and Multicoin Capital. It launched its Mainnet only last week alongside public trading of its native token APT, which experienced a rocky first week of trading.
The chain uses Move, a programming language that builds on top of Rust — the language used on the Solana blockchain. Aptos is already luring some developers away from the Solana network.
“At Thala, we are focused on building scalable, decentralized, and innovative DeFi primitives first for Aptos,” said Adam Cader, founder of Thala Labs, in a statement. “This fundraise validates our internal vision, the excitement around Aptos, and more broadly, the innovative Move programming language.”
A decentralized stablecoin do over
Thala Labs is currently building an over-collateralized decentralized stablecoin called Move Dollar that aims to solve the decentralized stablecoin trilemma: peg stability, security, and capital efficiency.
TerraUSD, one of the most prominent attempts to create a decentralized algorithmic stablecoin, imploded in May when market volatility triggered a depegging event, ultimately wiping out around $40 billion in market value.
“Thala’s unique vertical integration between its stablecoin subsystem and the AMM will streamline liquidity throughout Aptos’ ecosystem,” said Carl Hua, chief technology officer and investment partner at Shima Capital, in a statement.
The 12-person team at Thala Labs will use the new funds to accelerate hiring and increase the number of security audits it has received. The startup has already completed an audit from Aptos Labs auditor Zellic.
