Blockchain startup Aptos Labs doubles its valuation

Aptos Labs, a blockchain startup founded by former Meta employees, raised $150 million in Series A funding led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto.

Why it matters: The deal shows that investors are plenty hungry for a project that can fulfill the broader blockchain ecosystem's unrealized promises — and for talent that came out of Meta’s Diem/Novi project, despite its ultimate failure.

Background: Aptos Labs is building a so-called Layer 1 blockchain intended to lower fees and speed up transactions, while creating a more secure environment.

• Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching — who both worked on Meta’s Novi blockchain project — founded the company in December.
• The project draws on "key elements of the Diem blockchain and its smart contract language Move."

Details: The last round of funding valued the young business at more than $1 billion. Aptos has now raised over $350 million in its lifetime.

• Investors in this round (which includes Apollo, Griffin Gaming Partners, Franklin Templeton, Circle Ventures, Superscrypt founded by Temasek) have doubled the valuation.
• Aptos will launch more broadly later this year, using the funds to hire as well as invest in developers in its ecosystem.

Bottom line: Aptos bears the yoke of high expectations.