• Here Not There Labs has raised $25 million in a Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) to build out Towns, a Web3 group chat protocol and app.
• The startup also received backing from Benchmark and Framework Ventures.
• Towns offers an end-to-end encrypted chat protocol that lets communities create programmable, self-governed „town squares“ where users can assemble and chat.

Here Not There Labs Raises $25M for Web3 Startup

Here Not There Labs has just secured $25 million in a Series A round of funding led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The investment will go towards building out Towns, a Web3 group chat protocol and app that allows online communities to create blockchain-based gatherings in a fully decentralized way. Benchmark and Framework Ventures also participated in the round.

What Is Towns?

Towns is an end-to-end encrypted chat protocol designed to let communities create their own programmable, self-governed „town squares“ where users can assemble and communicate without worrying about access being revoked or rights being changed due to decisions made by the app owner. Through this platform, community members can control settings like administration, privacy and roles; customizing the experience with features such as rewarding member participation or allowing NFT sales within the chat itself. Additionally, any community can build new clients or application programming interfaces (API) for further customization options on the protocol level.

The Promise of Decentralization & Web3

As General Partner Sriram Krishnan of Andreessen Horowitz stated in his blog post draft: “The team’s vision for creating a digital town square where members can define the borders, set the rules, and build the world they want is an ambitious goal that is uniquely achievable through the promise of decentralization and web3.“ Despite recent industry trends showing decreased investments during this crypto winter period, it appears that Web3 was one sector which remained relatively stable throughout January 2021.

About Here Not There Labs

Here Not There Labs was founded by Ben Rubin – cofounder of Houseparty & Meerkat – as well as Brian Meek – former CTO at Twitch/Amazon Studios. Together they have set out to replicate town squares online while leveraging blockchain technology which provides increased security benefits over traditional apps based on centralized systems alone.

Conclusion

This latest milestone achieved by Here Not There Labs proves there are still investors willing to back innovative projects looking to revolutionize how we interact online through decentralized protocols such as web 3 technologies using blockchain technology – even during difficult market conditions like those seen during this past crypto winter period!