The Shiba Inu team, creators of one of the most actively traded memecoins, has completed a $12 million funding round by selling their new token, TREAT, to venture capital investors outside the U.S.
The announcement was made by Shiba Inu's lead developer, Shytoshi Kusama, at the Token2049 event in Dubai. The token round comprises both pre-seed and seed rounds.
The fresh capital injection was made possible by major crypto investors, including Animoca Brands, a venture capital firm specializing in Web3. The popular namesake memecoin has also secured backing from Polygon Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Shima Capital, Morningstar Ventures, Woodstock Fund, DWF Ventures, Stake Capital and Comma 3 Ventures.
Kusama, who maintains anonymity for security reasons and uses a pseudonym, outlined that the investment will fund the development of Shiba Inu's blockchain technology and the implementation of its Layer 2 scaling solution, Shibarium. "This funding isn't about personal luxury; it's about realizing our objectives for the community," Kusama said.
The funds were raised through Shiba Inu Mint S.A., a Panama-based entity, via the sale of its utility and governance token $TREAT. Kusama mentioned that TREAT will be the final non-stable token from the Shiba Inu crew. He also hinted that they're planning to roll out a new token called Shi later this year.
The proceeds will primarily support the expansion of Shibarium, which plans to become "the meme center of the world," and will also boost security and compliance efforts. The team expects to launch $TREAT on public markets later this year.
Highlighting the broader ambition of the project, Kusama explained that the next growth phase would extend Shiba Inu's presence beyond current crypto adopters. "There's a vast majority of the world still unfamiliar with crypto. We aim to change that significantly by year's end," he added.
Since its launch last year as an Ethereum-based scaling solution, Shibarium has seen a surge in $SHIB token prices, particularly following excitement over Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year.
Kusama also revealed plans to evolve Shiba Inu into a "social network state," which means more community grants and better tech flexibility through strategic partnerships and new initiatives like acquiring a .shib top-level domain.
"We're ensuring that influential figures in the sector are invested in our project, literally and metaphorically," Kusama concluded.