Imua, formerly known as Exocore, has raised a $5 million seed round led by Draper Dragon, No Limit Holdings, and Paramita Capital to launch the AWS for trust.
Imua is a new purpose-built L1 blockchain for shared security that aggregates on-chain decentralized trust via restaking and extends it as a service to the off-chain world of AI and more. The project was co-founded by crypto veterans Warren Paul Anderson and Rongjian Lan, along with Raluca Ada Popa, a UC Berkeley Professor of computer science with a focus on cryptography and AI security.
“Aggregating and extending the decentralized trust and security of top blockchains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Solana to both crypto and non-crypto platforms such as AI will be a multi-trillion dollar opportunity,” says Imua co-founder, Warren Paul Anderson, “similar to unlocking crude oil for use as petroleum in automotives.”
Imua is a Hawaiian word that means “to move forward.” Notably it was used by King Kamehameha I as a battle cry before uniting the tribalistic Hawaiian islands under a single governing body of shared security. In a similar fashion Imua is unifying fragmented blockchains under a universal protocol for shared security.
The funding round was oversubscribed, with participation from Reforge Capital, Caladan Capital, Tané Labs, Syntax Capital, MH Ventures, 57 Blocks, Lecca Ventures and others. Shima Capital provided early incubation support.
“I guess we’re a bit old school. We don’t believe a project needs to raise nine-figure amounts from private investors at ten-figure prices before launch,” remarked Anderson on the funding amount, “We actually turned down bigger term sheets. It takes more frugality and grit, but we ultimately believe the open market will reward that.”
Imua public testnet is live with 42 validators and has partnered with over a dozen projects. Imua mainnet is expected to launch soon.
