Aperture Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that is pioneering AI-powered intents, announced it has raised a Series A funding round, bringing the total across all rounds to $12 million and propelling the valuation at $250 million. This funding round was led by Skyland Ventures, Blockchain Founders Fund, and Krypital Group, with participation from notable investors like Alchemy, SNZ, Stratified Capital, Tide, Cipholio, ViaBTC, CatcherVC, and Double Peak. Previous rounds included participation from ParaFi Capital, Arrington Capital, Divergence, Blockchain Founders Fund, Laser Digital (Nomura Group), Skyland Ventures, Costanoa, Rarestone, Krypital Group, Big Brain Holdings, LD Capital, ViaBTC, Cipholio, Double Peak, Athena Ventures, Coinseeker, Artemis Capital, and AWS.
Aperture Finance has been innovating the use of Intents, a novel approach designed to streamline complex DeFi operations. And compared to traditional transactional methods, Intents enables users to specify their desired outcomes, simplifying interactions with DeFi protocols and enhancing accessibility. This system utilizes Uniswap V3, enabling users to declare end goals, such as liquidity rebalancing at specific price points, with transactions executed only when these conditions are met. This platform is already live on 9 EVM-compatible chains, processing a transaction volume exceeding $2.7 billion with 280,000+ unique users and 15k+ daily active users.
The company’s decentralized network of solvers calculates optimal transaction flows, which are then simulated and ranked by Aperture’s smart contracts. Initially launching with a centralized solver, this network has expanded to third-party solvers including Propeller Heads and Enso Finance with other solvers like Tokka Labs set to join in Q3 2024.
Aperture plans to further utilize its Large Language Model (LLM) interface that will convert user intents expressed in natural language into a domain-specific language (DSL) that can be codified on-chain. And this feature aims to ensure clarity and precision in user instructions, further democratizing access to complex financial instruments.
The new funding round will support the development of Aperture’s Intents infrastructure, expand its solver network, and enhance the user experience with the forthcoming LLM integration. This investment underscores the growing confidence in Aperture Finance’s potential to transform the DeFi landscape.
Following a successful airdrop campaign with participation from over 300,000 users, Aperture Finance will launch its $APTR token on Bybit on May 31, 2024.
KEY QUOTES:
“Intents architecture bridges the gap between sophisticated financial strategies and everyday DeFi users. By enabling users to articulate their financial goals in natural language, Aperture is making advanced DeFi tools accessible to a broader audience, from retail investors to institutional players.”
- Yonkuro, Head of Crypto at Skyland Ventures
“Aperture Finance is committed to reducing the learning curve in DeFi and providing more strategic options for our users. Our goal is to offer the same level of execution and pricing typically reserved for large institutions, making DeFi more inclusive and effective.”
- Peter Tan, Head of Product at Aperture Finance
