Reown Raises $13 Million To Build The Onchain UX Platform

Reown (formerly known as WalletConnect), today announced it has closed a $13 million Series B. Best known as the builders of the WalletConnect Network, Reown is leading the charge for improving onchain UX. The round was led by Union Square Ventures (USV) and 1kx and also included Global Digital Asset Holdings (a joint venture investment vehicle established by SC Ventures and SBI Holdings), Shopify Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Crypto.com Capital, Figment, Kiln, Everstake, BitGo Ventures and Fenbushi. To date, Reown has raised a total of $38 million from some of the most prominent investors in Web 2 and Web3. The company will use the new financing to further develop the onchain UX platform through its SDKs — Reown AppKit and Reown WalletKit.

The rise in traditional financial services offering crypto payments has seen an increase in requests for improved onchain UX. Payments providers want to decrease friction as much as possible, abstract the blockchain and associated blockers such as gas and seedphrases away. Reown’s expertise in onchain UX places its products in a critical position as traditional finance, fintech and decentralized finance overlap - it recently announced smart sessions which solve the challenge of subscription payments in crypto without using escrow accounts. Financial infrastructure platform Stripe and gift card giant Raise both leveraged Reown technology earlier this year for seamless crypto solutions.

Jess Houlgrave, CEO of Reown, says, “The WalletConnect Network has long been the essential bridge connecting wallets, apps and users. Now, we’re entering the next phase of growth, where the Network will also serve as a bridge to the traditional financial system. As we approach the 'iPhone moment' for crypto, there’s still a pressing need for transformative improvements in onchain user experiences. I’m proud that so many investors from both web 2 and web3 recognize this potential and have chosen to support Reown’s mission. Together, through our contributions to the WalletConnect Network and our expanding product offerings, we aim to make blockchain technology as seamless and intuitive as possible for everyone."

Reown AppKit, used by apps including DeFi giants Jupiter, Drift and Marinade, allows apps to onboard millions of users in minutes through login tools like embedded wallets and smart accounts and easy to use features like fee sponsorships swaps and on-ramps. Recently, AppKit became a multichain solution by adding support first to Solana and then to Bitcoin and more blockchains are expected to be supported by AppKit as the need for improved onchain UX continues to grow. Telegram’s 950 million users are also able to access seamless and intuitive onchain experiences with the recent support for Telegram MiniApps by Reown’s AppKit.

Albert Wenger, Partner at Union Square Ventures, commented, “The Reown team has consistently demonstrated their expertise in addressing onchain UX challenges, from the WalletConnect Network to AppKit, and WalletKit. Their commitment to both builders and consumers is unmatched. We look forward to working alongside Reown and tackling onchain UX.”

Reown WalletKit is the industry standard toolkit for designing innovative wallet UX. Used by over 600 wallets including Trust Wallet, OKX Wallet, Binance Web3Wallet, Bitget Wallet, Crypto.com Onchain and Fireblocks, it provides tools, libraries, and APIs to streamline the process of connecting wallets to decentralized applications. A major focus for WalletKit is the recently announced ‘Chain Abstraction Roadmap’. The roadmap outlines 3 phases that will drastically improve onchain UX and remove chain swapping and bridging blockers. WalletKit is also focused on gas abstraction, with the goal of removing the need for understanding and knowledge of gas for users.

Lasse Clausen, Founding Partner at 1kx, commented, “Reown is redefining how individuals and businesses interact with digital assets. As we move towards a world with digital assets at the center, ensuring that smooth onboarding and ease of use is paramount. We’re proud to support Reown as they continue to shape the future of ownership and connectivity.”

Reown will continue its role as a core developer of the WalletConnect Network which recently surpassed over 220 million connections spanning more than 35 million users across the globe, and today, facilitates over 20 million monthly connections for more than 5 million monthly users. The WalletConnect Foundation recently announced the decentralization of the Network through the addition of third party node operators as well as launched the WalletConnect Token (WCT).

About Reown:

Reown is the onchain UX platform and builder of the WalletConnect Network. Reown products, AppKit and WalletKit — are designed for individuals and organizations building products onchain. Reown focuses on combining innovation with reliability and ease of use to enable all builders to provide web3-native features within their products and bring the vast opportunities and better future that the new internet brings to their communities.

About the WalletConnect Network:

The WalletConnect Network was developed and launched in 2018 by Reown (known at the time as WalletConnect). The WalletConnect Network is an open-source protocol that enables secure and seamless connection between apps and wallets, facilitating the flow of value throughout the onchain industry. Since launch it has surpassed over 220 million connections and over 35 million unique active wallets. The WalletConnect Network is growing rapidly, having expanded by 200% in the past year alone.

The WalletConnect Network is now in the process of becoming a fully decentralized and permissionless network. As part of this process the WalletConnect Foundation was founded and the WCT token was launched. WalletConnect Foundation’s mission is to develop the WalletConnect ecosystem, steward the WalletConnect network and empower the WalletConnect community. WCT is the native token of the network, used for fees, rewards, staking and governance.

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