Web3-Powered File Management App Raises $1.5M to Offer Alternative to Google

Web3 workspace and file management application Fileverse raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed round, the firm told CoinDesk Tuesday.

Privacy-focused Gnosis Chain and venture capital firm Factor led the investment, according to a press release shared by the firm. Crypto wallet provider Safe, social media privacy solution Mask Network, decentralized file storage Arweave Ecosystem and its ecosystem incubator Forward Research, Web3 credentials network Galxe, ex-Coinbase Balaji Srinivasan and other angel investors also participated in the round.

Fileverse offers a decentralized file management and collaboration service, which aims to offer an alternative to centralized providers such as Google or Notion by giving users better ownership over their personal data, the company said. The platform leverages smart contracts and stores encrypted data on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a popular peer-to-peer file sharing network created by Filecoin (FIL) developer firm Protocol Labs, to avoid relying on a single server provider. Fileverse also crafted a tool that is compliant to European data privacy regulation GDPR by design through cryptographic encryption.

“Lots of research and engineering has gone into crypto infrastructure and account abstraction in the past years,” Lukas Schor, co-founder and CEO of Safe, said in a statement. “Fileverse is looking to bring these advancements to a range of on-chain tools for communication and collaboration.”

The investment happened as crypto firms struggle to attract fresh capital in a grueling crypto winter. Venture capital fundraising dropped to a three-year low, Messari data showed earlier this month.

Last year, Fileverse raised some $280,000 in grants and donations from Gitcoin community members, Polygon, ENS, a16z, Filecoin, Aurora.