GoGoPool, a decentralized staking protocol on Avalanche, has raised $5M in a seed round co-led by Framework Ventures, a venture capital firm known for its early entry into decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain gaming (GameFi), and CoinFund, a blockchain-focused investment firm founded with the goal of shaping the global transition to digital assets and decentralized finance.
Serving both liquid stakers and validator node operators, GoGoPool is the only natively-built liquid staking protocol on the Avalanche blockchain that addresses the challenges of liquid staking and the launch of subnets, the blockchain’s primary solution for scaling.
GoGoPool uses a decentralized tokenization system that enables hardware operators to join the protocol, get matched with funds from liquid stakers, and begin validating the Avalanche Primary Network at half the typical cost. Stakers receive a wrapped ggAVAX token representing their staked AVAX, benefitting from instant liquidity, as well as GoGoPool’s community rewards. When a subnet is launched, stakers can join the protocol by staking GoGoPool’s tokens and gaining access to the protocol’s validator set.
Unique to GoGoPool, liquid stakers and subnet owners can collaborate to incentivize hardware operators on the protocol, reducing the cost of launching subnets and increasing the efficiency of validator nodes. Essentially, GoGoPool enables creators to build on Avalanche and expand their subnets without restrictions.
“Subnets have the potential to be the WordPress for blockchains, allowing rapid experimentation with new models and ideas – but are currently held back by a few key friction points. It would be a waste of potential if we didn’t explore solutions to the limitations of launching subnets,” says Steven Gates, CEO of GoGoPool. “Currently 60% of AVAX is locked up in Avalanche’s staking windows and the cost of running hardware is relatively high, making it very costly to launch a new subnet. By building a staking protocol that has decentralized hardware pools, liquid staking, and subnet compatibility, GoGoPool will enable a new wave of subnets to be launched cheaply and easily – putting GoGoPool at the ground floor of a quickly growing Subnet Economy.”
GoGoPool is backed by a strong technical team that has tackled the cost and limitations of staking through subnets on Avalanche with a heavy community focus, giving the protocol a solid advantage as the subnet economy starts to grow. By enabling both retail users and institutional players to easily participate in the staking process, GoGoPool will play a pivotal role in providing hardware and infrastructure to subnet operators, further decentralizing the Avalanche ecosystem and bringing subnets to a wider audience.
As proof of stake becomes a much more prevalent consensus mechanism, it is imperative that the blockchain industry adopts solutions that enable anyone and everyone to confidently participate in both decentralized and cost-effective ways,” said Brandon Potts, Venture Investor at Framework Ventures. “We are excited to support GoGoPool because we believe it is the best decentralized staking solution on Avalanche. Its products will significantly improve the process for launching subnets, helping Avalanche to realize its fullest potential whilst reducing barriers to entry for smaller staking participants.”
“GoGoPool is building the critical infrastructure for subnet builders to bootstrap their validator set through a combination of liquid staking tokens, unique native token economics, and a marketplace coordination mechanism. By leveraging GoGoPool, builders will have one of their key friction points removed catalyzing rapid growth in the Avalanche subnet economy.” said Austin Barack, Partner at CoinFund.
The fund raise also included a number of other notable investors including Avalaunch, FinTech Collective, Republic Capital, Builder Capital, Genesis Block Ventures, AlphaCrypto Capital, and Flow Traders. Other angel investors include Curtis Cheng from Silverstone Ventures and Richard Dai from Taureon. The funds from the round will be utilized to expand GoGoPool’s engineering and business development teams, accelerate product development ahead of the mainnet launch, develop new tooling for subnets, and build out primitives for the subnet economy.
GoGoPool plans to launch their testnet by the end of Q4, with a mainnet launch following shortly after. To learn more, visit https://www.gogopool.xyz/ and join the Discord at https://discord.com/invite/4fNtjkyuNw.
About GoGoPool
Founded in January of 2022 by Steven Gates and JohnnyGault, GoGoPool is the only decentralized staking protocol on the Avalanche chain. GoGoPool was created to launch subnets on Avalanche by being the easiest way to stake AVAX.
To learn more, visit https://www.gogopool.xyz/
About Framework Ventures
Framework is a team of technologists, researchers, and investors who buy assets of, who build for, and who participate in open crypto networks. At its core, Framework is a technology company, building products and services to support the open blockchain networks that they invest in. Through its registered investment adviser, Framework Ventures Management LLC (“Framework Ventures”), the firm has backed dozens of notable companies in the decentralized finance and Web3 space.
To learn more, visit https://framework.ventures.
Information contained herein is accurate as of the date of publication and is subject to change.
Disclaimer: This is not investment advice and readers should not construe discussion of any particular organization as a recommendation to purchase or sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase or sell, any securities or digital assets related to such organization.
About CoinFund
CoinFund is a web3 and crypto focused investment firm and registered investment adviser founded in 2015 with the goal of shaping the global transition to web3. The firm invests in seed, venture and liquid opportunities within the blockchain sector with a focus on digital assets, decentralization technologies, and key enabling infrastructure. The CoinFund team has studied and supported the development of the blockchain space from the inception of the first decentralized networks, and come from diverse backgrounds in investing, engineering, law, and decentralized protocols.
For more information, including a list of portfolio companies, please visit our website at coinfund.io.