The Open Platform Secures $28.5 Million Series A Funding Valuing Company at $1 Billion

The Open Platform (TOP), the primary application developer for Telegram’s blockchain project TON (The Open Network), has successfully completed a $28.5 million Series A investment round, achieving a valuation of $1 billion. This investment round was spearheaded by Ribbit Capital, a fintech-focused venture capital firm, with participation from Pantera Capital, a leading investment fund in the cryptocurrency space. In exchange for the investment, a 5% stake in the company was transferred, with no cryptocurrency allocated in the process. TOP’s founder and CEO, Andrew Rogozov, revealed that the company has accumulated over $70 million in total funds to date.

TOP, deeply integrated within the TON blockchain ecosystem and closely associated with Telegram, is also the developer behind the main wallet application, “Telegram Wallet.” The company aims to expand the wallet’s availability, which is currently accessible in Russia, Asia, and other regions via Telegram, to the US and European markets with the new funding. Rogozov emphasized that compliance and operational infrastructures present significant costs in this expansion process and highlighted that the new investment will be crucial in addressing these areas.

The new investment will not only support geographical expansion but also fuel the development of TON-based blockchain games and AI projects. TOP’s long-term vision is to establish a comprehensive application ecosystem running on TON. Ribbit Capital and Pantera Capital, the participating investors, see Telegram’s global user base of over 1 billion as a substantial opportunity. Ryan Barney, a partner at Pantera Capital, expressed excitement about supporting revolutionary technology and financial products that can reach a billion people.

Telegram initially sold $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrencies for its TON project in 2018. However, the project was halted in 2020 following a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As part of the settlement, Telegram returned $1.2 billion to investors and paid a fine of $18.5 million. Despite these setbacks, the development of the technology continued behind the scenes. In 2023, Telegram announced the new version of TON as the official blockchain network, and in the same year, TOP was officially established in the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi).