Umia Secures $6.1 Million at an $18 Million FDV to Support Web3 Token Issuance

Investors including Galaxy Ventures and DCG participated in the UMIA token auction, which distributed 34.6% of its circulating supply based on an $18 million fully diluted valuation.

Umia, an ecosystem designed to assist cryptographic initiatives in issuing and governing digital assets, brought in $6.11 million via an offering of its native UMIA cryptocurrency.

The week-long bidding event valued Umia at a fully diluted valuation of $18 million, moving 17.3 million tokens—amounting to 34.6% of the aggregate supply—as shared with The Block by Umia co-founder and CEO Francesco Mosterts. Every asset sold during the event was immediately liquid upon release without any transfer restrictions.

UMIA is presently changing hands near $0.68, placing the asset’s fully diluted valuation close to $34 million according to metrics from CoinGecko.

Mosterts explained that Umia purposely distributed a major portion of the supply to grant early backers a substantial stake, steering clear of a scenario with limited circulating tokens followed by massive future supply unlocks.

Roughly 45% of the capital originated from institutional backers, according to Mosterts. Ten different funds took part, comprising Galaxy Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Draper Associates, RenGen, Alpha EV, Maven 11, and Eon Capital. Close to 700 retail participants also joined.

The institutional funds entered under identical conditions as all other bidders, securing zero pricing discounts, stated Umia. Furthermore, none of the backers acquired a seat on the board, observer status, or an advisory position, Mosterts pointed out.

This capital acquisition takes place during a challenging climate for newly introduced token projects. Backers have lately demonstrated a strong inclination toward equity agreements and revenue-backed tokens, as noted in previous coverage by The Block.

In the preceding month, GSR, Ink Foundation, together with various legal and auditing organizations, likewise unveiled the Charter Foundation with the goal of minimizing token deployment expenditures.

When questioned about how Umia distinguishes itself, Mosterts highlighted its integration of a legal framework, predictive markets, onchain bidding events, and a guided onboarding procedure. He added that the platform’s auction mechanism incorporates eligibility verifications and technical safeguards intended to curb exploitation by bots and speculators attempting to manipulate transaction sequences.

Umia indicated that it organizes each enterprise so that its intellectual property, operating personnel, and treasury exist beneath a unified legal entity tied directly to the token, avoiding fragmentation among a corporation, foundation, and decentralized autonomous organization.

This structural design aims to guarantee that economic value generated by a venture flows directly to the token instead of staying with creators, equity shareholders, or an independent foundation, Mosterts remarked.

Umia generates revenue through a 0.5% fee on spot swaps across the automated market maker pools it oversees, alongside a 1% charge on predictive market transactions.

Regarding the UMIA coin distribution, 20% of the funds raised were deployed to establish a protocol-controlled UMIA-USDC liquidity pool on Uniswap v4 priced at the concluding auction rate. The remaining capital was directed to the treasury.

Smart contracts disburse $120,000 monthly to cover engineering expenses. Any expenditures exceeding that threshold, or adjustments to the monthly allocation, must be approved through a UMIA decision market.

Prediction markets substitute traditional token governance votes. Speculators take financial stances depending on their forecasts of asset performance under varying proposals. The alternative yielding the highest time-weighted average price is subsequently executed onchain.

Mosterts conceded that granting token holders authority over board-level choices might diminish founder autonomy. He also mentioned that a liquid asset can push development teams toward short-term choices focused on boosting its market value.

Nevertheless, he argued these dangers are preferable to conventional token voting systems, which he considers ineffective, or equity funding that yields governance seats to venture firms carrying conflicting incentives.

The UMIA offering took place on Base from August 26 through September 2 utilizing Umia’s customized variant of the Uniswap Continuous Clearing Auction model. It featured a baseline target of $2 million alongside a ceiling token price of $0.36, equating to an $18 million fully diluted valuation.

First external launches

Umia’s review board has chosen three outside initiatives to debut via the network. The primary project is Slop.cash, created by Shaw—the founder of ai16z, which is presently known as ElizaOS. It is slated to debut later in the fourth quarter, according to Mosterts. The remaining two initiatives are expected to be unveiled in forthcoming weeks.

Umia has processed upwards of 200 submissions spanning artificial intelligence infrastructure, AI applications, decentralized finance, tokenized investment vehicles, real-world assets, and financial technology, Mosterts stated. Teams can build upon any Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible ledger.

Prospective applicants initially undergo internal evaluations before pitching to a selection committee that features investors originating from Maven 11 and RenGen, as well as delegates from the analytics platform 01resolved.

Approved initiatives obtain assistance concerning technology, finance, UI/UX design, tax planning, legal matters, and media outreach, per Mosterts.

Umia was originally incubated by Ethereum research and development shop Chainbound, which has collaborated with Flashbots and the Ethereum Foundation. Mosterts previously held a role at Point72, while co-founder and CTO Nicolas Racchi formerly built decentralized finance protocols and Ethereum foundational architecture.

Umia currently maintains a staff of seven and is actively recruiting business development personnel to aid the evaluation workflow, although Mosterts did not disclose the precise hiring target.

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