Decentralized social app Bluesky announced Thursday that it has raised $15 million in a Series A round, following an $8 million seed raise last year. The funding comes as Bluesky anticipates increased growth, in part due to concerns from X users who have been troubled by recent changes to blocking functionality and moves to allow third parties to train AI on users' public posts. It was held in the middle of the day. In the last month alone, Bluesky added about 3 million new users, bringing its total user base to about 13 million.
Bluesky was initially incubated within Twitter as former CEO Jack Dorsey's vision of what the future of social media should be. But the developer of the social network and open-source AT protocol is no longer affiliated with Dorsey, who resigned from the startup's board earlier this year. Still, many of Bluesky's original goals remain consistent. Like Mastodon, Bluesky's AT protocol is decentralized. This means individuals will be able to set up their own social servers and apps, and people outside the company will be transparent about how and what they do. It is under development.
“With this funding, we will continue to support and grow the Bluesky community, invest in Trust and Safety, and support the ATmosphere developer ecosystem,” Bluesky's blog announcement reads. . “Additionally, we will begin developing a subscription model for features such as higher quality video uploads and profile customization such as colors and avatar frames.”
The Bluesky team is quick to remind users that this paid tier is not like X and will give subscribers an exclusive blue checkmark and higher rankings algorithmically, and will not make their posts more visible. I've been telling you.
“The way Twitter did subscriptions was basically a blueprint for how bluesky shouldn't do subscriptions,” Bluesky developer Paul Frazee posted. “Some ‘Pay to Win’ features can gain visibility or receive blue checks due to incorrect subscribers, ruining the network for everyone.”
The Series A round was led by Blockchain Capital with participation from Alumni Ventures, True Ventures, SevenX, Darkmode's Amir Shevat, and Kubernetes co-creator Joe Beda. While the existence of a cryptocurrency-focused company may alarm skeptics, especially since CEO Jay Graeber was previously a software engineer at cryptocurrency company Zcash, Bluesky believes the company is focused on Web3. It actively assures users that it is not shifting its footing.
“As our leader, Blockchain Capital shares our philosophy that technology should serve the user, not the other way around.The technology used should never come at the expense of the user experience. “No,” Bluesky said in the announcement. “This does not change the fact that the Bluesky app and AT Protocol do not use blockchain or cryptocurrencies and have no intention of hyper-financializing social experiences (through tokens, crypto trading, NFTs, etc.).”
Graber also announced that Kinjal Shah, general partner at Blockchain Capital, will be joining Bluesky's board of directors.
“[Shah] It was a great experience working with her, as she shares our vision for a social media ecosystem that empowers users and supports freedom for developers. Thanks to her support, we are well-positioned to grow,” Graeber wrote.