Aurora team launches $90 million fund to back DeFi projects

Aurora, the Layer-2 protocol on the NEAR network, launched a fund in AURORA tokens worth about $90 million to accelerate DeFi development.

‼ Huge news for the Aurora Ecosystem!🔥
Read the full article on @TheBlock__ 👇https://t.co/TcqQ9ZZa0r

— Aurora (@auroraisnear) May 12, 2022

The initiative was carried out in partnership with Proximity Labs. Funds from the Aurora Labs treasury were allocated from the DAO.

Proximity will manage the fund and award grants to developers interested in building dapps on the protocol.

Aurora provides full compatibility with EVM — the runtime for Ethereum applications.

Aurora Labs aims to make the protocol more attractive to developers from the second-largest cryptocurrency network.

«Aurora DAO continues its mission to extend the Ethereum economy beyond Ethereum’s blockchain. This grant is the next big step in the development of the Aurora ecosystem, and I’m glad Proximity Labs is joining us on this journey» — said Dr. Alex Shevchenko, CEO of Aurora Labs.

“Aurora DAO continues its mission to extend the Ethereum economy outside Ethereum blockchain. This grant is a next big step in the development of the Aurora ecosystem and I’m happy that Proximity Labs accompanies us in this journey,” said Dr. Alex Shevchenko, CEO of Aurora Labs.

— Aurora (@auroraisnear) May 12, 2022

The total value locked in DeFi protocols on Aurora has surpassed $806 million, according to DeFi Llama.

More than 43% of the total is accounted for by Bastion. In March the project attracted seed funding of an undisclosed amount. In April Bastion closed a $9 million Series A round led by Three Arrows Capital.

In May 2021, the NEAR Protocol team launched the L2 protocol Aurora to interact with Ethereum.