World, an online verification startup co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, has raised $52.5 million through a crypto token sale to strategic investors.
Participating investors participated in the 12-month lock-up sale of the global token WLD. A lock-up period prevents asset purchasers from selling or trading tokens for a certain period of time. The company said in a press release Friday that the year-long lockup demonstrates investors’ “long-term commitment to continued growth and utility around the world.”
The funds will be donated to the World Foundation. The World Foundation is a Cayman Islands-based exempt limited guarantee foundation established to manage the expansion of the World network.
The lead buyer in this sale is Pantera Capital, a venture capital firm focused on digital assets. Other companies involved in the sale include Eightco Holdings, Bain Capital Crypto, Susquehanna Crypto and Selini Capital.
The World project is run by Tools for Humanity (TFH), a San Francisco-based startup led by CEO and co-founder Alex Blania. Mr. Altman is the company’s other co-founder.
World is an unusual business that revolves around online authentication and sells access to what it calls “human proof” tools. The idea is that as bots and AI generate more of the content online, it will become increasingly important to know who is real and who is not. World’s mission is to popularize World ID, an anonymous digital marker that confirms whether a human, rather than a bot or AI agent, is behind a particular account.
To obtain a verified World ID (the highest level of verification within World’s system), users must scan their eyes with an orb, a metal sphere that converts a user’s iris into a unique cryptographic ID. World’s Orbs is located in our offices and in partner stores around the world.
The project began as a more explicitly crypto-based experiment under the name “Worldcoin”, the same name as the crypto asset involved in the recent sale. Users can trade and hold tokens through the World app, which also functions as a custodial wallet. The company later rebranded to World amid widespread backlash against the cryptocurrency industry.
In April, the project released a new version of its app and announced partnerships with companies like Tinder, Zoom, and Docusign. But despite its global ambitions, World has struggled to expand its operations and convince consumers to value its mission. TFH implemented a series of layoffs in June.
Correction, July 24: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that World was affiliated with Ticketmaster. it’s not. We apologize for the error.
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