Kik seeking to raise US$125 million
Waterloo, Ont.-based messaging app Kik Interactive Inc. has raised US$ 50- million in funding from accredited investors interested in purchasing its new cryptocurrency, Kin, and plans to raise another US$ 75 million from a public sale.
The company on Tuesday announced that investors in the pre- sale round include Blockchain Capital, Pantera Capital and Polychain Capital, three Silicon Valley area investment firms. Kik is accepting registrations from investors interested in participating in the public sale until Sept. 9, with the sale taking place on Sept. 12 at 9 a.m.
“Kik is by far the largest consumer company to enter the cryptocurrency space, and this is a seminal moment for the industry,” said Ryan Zurrer, principal and venture partner at cryptocurrency hedge fund Polychain Capital, in a release.
“We have been impressed with Kik’s thoughtful approach to the creation and distribution of Kin, and have confidence that the team will execute their vision of creating a decentralized ecosystem of digital services through Kin.”
Between the public and private token sales, Kik, led by CEO Ken Livingston, is hoping to raise a total of US$ 125 million in exchange for 10 per cent of the cryptotokens the company plans to create. The company is requiring investors to register in advance in an effort to distribute the tokens to as many people as possible.
The tokens will also be distributed to Kik users in exchange for doing things that add value to the app, such as hosting group chats or developing bots. Kik plans to hold 30 per cent of Kin in reserve in the hopes it will grow in value as more and more people use it and provide a source of ongoing revenue.
Kik was last valued at US$ 1 billion in 2015 following an investment by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd.