Startup by ex-ConsenSys strategy chief Sam Cassatt raises $34 million

Aligned, the startup founded by former ConsenSys chief strategy officer Sam Cassatt, has raised $34 million in funding. The firm is building Web 3.0 infrastructure.

1/ DeFi still has major gaps in infrastructure that are holding back the potential reach for both retail and institutions

Here’s why we raised $34M at Aligned to build Web3’s answer to AWS 🧵

— sam cassatt (@samcassatt) February 24, 2022

According to The Block, Aligned was backed by GSR, Altium Capital, Cavalry Fund and Ninja4, as well as a number of angel investors. There was no lead investor in the round.

In Cassatt’s words, the firm aims to become the cloud-service equivalent of Amazon Web Services for the future decentralised Internet. The hardware and infrastructure of the startup enable it to build such a solution, the entrepreneur says.

“We are creating specialized hardware from a range of components. Some of them are already off-the-shelf chips. There are many applications for this hardware, and one of them is mining various cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and others,” Cassatt noted.

He added that Aligned is also building staking infrastructure and is a liquidity provider in DeFi, contributing 15,000 ETH (~$39 million) to sector protocols.

Cassatt said he plans to expand Aligned’s activities and grow the team, which currently numbers 30 people.

“Building data centres and manufacturing equipment are capital-intensive activities, so bringing our model to full fruition will require additional capital,” he says.

In February, the Web 3.0-focused startup Jambo also raised $7.5 million.

Earlier, Jack Dorsey expressed skepticism about the future decentralisation of Web 3.0. According to him, achieving this goal would be hindered by the strong influence of venture capital.