Crypto startup from ChatGPT creator Sam Altman seeks to raise funds

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Sam Altman’s Worldcoin is in talks to raise up to $120 million, The Block reported. The Andreessen Horowitz-backed crypto project targets sovereign wealth funds as a lead investor. Worldcoin has been criticized for privacy concerns as a fledgling startup that collects a lot of personal biometric data. LoadingSomething is being loaded.

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Worldcoin, the controversial eye-scanning crypto startup co-founded by ChatGPT creator Sam Altman, is in talks to secure a new round of funding.

The project is trying to raise up to $120 million at a $3 billion valuation, according to The Block, citing a source familiar with the matter. The crypto unicorn is looking for a lead investor, the report says, including deep-pocketed backers like a sovereign wealth fund.

The funding round will be structured as a sale of shares plus token warrants, people familiar said.

Founded in 2020, Worldcoin wants to give every living human a crypto by scanning the irises of everyone on earth. This is done in order to identify users so that the company can distribute its tokens fairly. Worldcoin is said to have scanned the eyes of nearly half a million people worldwide, BuzzFeed reported last April.

Worldcoin’s tactics have drawn criticism over privacy concerns at a fledgling startup that collects personal biometric data from large groups of people. There have reportedly been a series of setbacks for Worldcoin, including delays in its public launch, suspension of operations in various countries, and a slew of user complaints.

In March 2022, Worldcoin CEO Alex Blania said in an interview with Bloomberg that these hurdles are the result of a new startup that is still experimenting.

“You’re still talking to a Series A company, not an Uber,” Blania told the outlet. “Things aren’t perfect.”

Worldcoin got a Series A raise last year, with backing from well-known investors like Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital arm of Coinbase and the co-founder of LinkedIn.

Worldcoin did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

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