Parallel Finance Raises $5M at $500M Valuation

Decentralized lending and staking protocol Parallel Finance raised $5 million in an extended funding round that gives the company a $500 million valuation, according to a press release on Tuesday (April 5).

The round was led by Coinbase, StarkWare and Section 32, a venture capital firm founded by the former head of Google Ventures. Founded in April 2021, Parallel Finance focuses on products and services related to decentralized finance (DeFi), including lending, trading, staking and derivatives on multi-chains. 

The fresh infusion of capital will go towards developing products beyond Polkadot, the open-source, blockchain platform and cryptocurrency, and enter ETH and NFT-related DeFi groups. Parallel Finance is also looking to add tools like interest rate swaps for long-term growth to DeFi. 

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“As we continue to pursue our mission of empowering users and bringing DeFi to mainstream society, we are beyond grateful to our investment partners for their support,” said Yubo Ruan, founder of Parallel Finance. 

“The partnership of these impactful companies is a testament to the value that Parallel Finance provides and we are looking forward to reaching our fullest potential with innovative products and offerings for our users to enjoy,” Ruan said.

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“As DeFi continues to emerge, technical advancement, enhanced scalability and consumer accessibility are imperative,” said Andy Harrison, managing partner at Section 32. “We believe that Parallel Finance has the potential to change how consumers interact with DeFi and provide substantial industry growth in Polkadot and beyond.”