Arweave is a permanent hard drive built on the blockchain that can serve as a permaweb archive. Anything you want to be stored across a decentralized network can be verified cryptographically with its own currency token incentivizing host nodes and miners. While the possibility of storage amount is infinite, transactions can be slow as the protocol scales and user interest increases. Bundlr Network is a decentralized multichain platform that speeds up data storage on Web3 on Arweave. Users pay a one-time fee with any major token, receive unlimited storage, and can upload data from any major blockchain while having instant access to the data. The company reports that upload and read speeds are 3000x faster than using Arweave on its own. Bundlr Network is currently views NFT marketplaces as its target customer but the solution is versatile enough to handle anyone with decentralized data storage needs.
London TechWatch caught up with Bundlr Network Founder and CEO Josh Benaron to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
$5.2M seed.
Lead investors: Framework Ventures, Arweave, Hypersphere Ventures, and Permanent Ventures.
Other investors included OpenSea Ventures, Race Capital, KYVE, Double Down Fund, Coinbase’s Viktor Bunin, Kearny Jackson’s Sriram Krishnan, Aave’s Jimmy Chang, Glass Protocol’s Sam Sends, OpenSea’s Kevin Pawlak, Mirror’s Andrew Hong, OpenSea’s Shiva Rajaraman, Orca Protocol’s Chase Chapman, Gitcoin’s Annika Lewis, Edge & Node’s Nader Dabit, Hedosophia’s Lawson Emanuel, Metaplex’s Sam Vanderwaal, and Cowfund’s David Phelps.
Tell us about your product or service.
Bundlr is a decentralized platform that makes it fast and easy to store data on web3. It is a reliable, multichain solution that enables easy access to Arweave. Bundlr is responsible for processing over 90% of all data uploaded on Arweave and increases upload speeds by ~3000%. Bundlr is integrated on most platforms and is multi-chain compatible including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain, and more.
What inspired the start of Bundlr Network?
I had a phone call with the founder and CEO of Arweave, Sam Williams. Sam explained that in just a few months, the blocks on Arweave would be full, slowing transaction speeds to an extremely low rate. The result would be similar to what users on Ethereum were experiencing: high fees and slow transactions. I had an idea that could solve this problem and as a result, created Bundlr Network, a decentralized platform that makes it fast and easy to store data on web3. It is a reliable, multichain solution that enables easy access to Arweave.
How is it different?
Arweave is the only way to permanently store your data. You pay once, and it’s stored forever. No more monthly fees, no more censored information, no more deleted data.
Bundlr makes this technology faster, easier, and multichain. We are bringing the speed and ease of web2 to web3 data storage.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
We are currently focusing on NFT marketplaces, however, any company with data storage needs is an ideal customer for Bundlr.
We are also archiving historical documents coming out of traditionally censored regions such as Russia and China. This way, articles and tweets that might have been deleted, will be stored permanently, giving future historians a clear view into our society and history.
What are your post-COVID office plans??
We are and have always been remote.
What was the funding process like?
We had many interested parties and prioritized VCs and individuals who would be able to best support our goals. We are very excited to have an incredible group of investors who believe in our mission on-board.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
We had a great experience talking with investors. People understood what we were trying to achieve and believed that we could accomplish it.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
We are solving a problem that must be solved for Arweave to continue growing. Those who believe in Arweave, believe in what we’re building at Bundlr.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
- Open up our validator network.
- Empower more people to support the archival of history on Arweave via Bundlr.
- Educate people about the importance of data permanency and the fact that where they store their data matters.
- Work with more NFT platforms to store crucial NFT metadata on Bundlr.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
- Continue increasing awareness for Bundlr Network
- Educate people on the importance of data permanency and storing data correctly
- Continue improving our product and creating new products that support our mission
What’s your favourite outdoor activity in London?
Football.
