So-Col (Social Collectables), a web3 social platform founded by crypto influencer Irene Zhao, unveiled $4.5 million in fresh funding across in two rounds.
The most recent round, worth $1.5 million, was solely backed by DWF Labs, the web3 investment firm said Tuesday. So-Col also raised $3 million last May in a round led by Blockchain Capital, Zhao disclosed to The Block in an interview. The May round was raised at a $100 million valuation, Zhao said, declining to comment on the latest valuation with the DWF round.
The DWF round brings So-Col's total funding to date to $6.25 million, after the startup raised $1.75 million in seed funding in February 2022. All three funding rounds were token rounds, Zhao said, meaning investors purchased So-Col's simp tokens.
DWF Labs has been increasingly backing token rounds lately. It has invested in over 15 startups in the last few months, inlcuding in Conflux Network, Orbs and Synthetix. Tokens of most of these startups rose in price after DWF, which is also a market maker, disclosed its investment. DWF originally invested in So-Col in February of this year, Zhao said. Its investment has a one-year vesting period, which ends in February 2024, Zhao added.