Igloo Inc., a company with a mission to create the largest consumer crypto revolutionary onchain community, recently announced securing $11 million in funding. The company plans to use the raised funds to set up Cube Labs with the belief that its strategic establishment will play a significant role in developing its Abstract Layer 2, a new blockchain designed to drive mass adoption. 

Meanwhile, the Cube Labs’ team is behind the Ethereum-based Pudgy Penguin NFT collection launched in July 2021. The collection has 8,888 NFT’s created to  accelerate Web3 innovation through IP utilization and community empowerment.

Founders Fund Leads Igloo’s $11M Fund Raise 

The funding round was led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund with notable contributions from Fenbushi Capital, 1kx, Everest Ventures Group and Selini Capital. 

Speaking on the investment in Cube Labs, Joey Krug, a partner at Founders Fund said: “Pudgy Penguins has the best 0 to 1 distribution edge we’ve seen in the crypto space. Instead of paying massive amounts to acquire users, they acquire them organically through the Pudgy brand. They’re leveraging this to grow Abstract, a consumer L2 focused on making onchain experiences mainstream. By building for users first, and allowing companies and brands to better interface with their consumers, Abstract is well-positioned to onboard the masses to crypto,”

He further added saying “Abstract is built for everyone — not just cryptonatives — and we’re extremely happy to be supporting them on this journey.”

Igloo Acquires Frame.xyz and its Team

In addition, Igloo also acquired Frame.xyz and its team to contribute to the building of Abstract as a blockchain for consumer crypto, pioneering culture, community and creativity onchain. The acquisition will bring forth a new era using ZK stack’s cutting edge cryptography and EigenDa to provide secure, ultra fast, low-cost, developer-friendly ways for builders. 

Abstract Testnet Goes Live

Interestingly, the Abstract Testnet went live last week testing the waters of its designated purpose to augment consumer-based applications across DeFi, SocialFi, NFTs etc. It is EVM-compatible with all Ethereum tools including MetaMask, Foundry, Hardhat, and others. The mainnet is expected to go live before the year runs out. There is no certainty that Abstract will launch its token during the mainnet unveil. 

More About the Abstract Team 

Abstract was founded by Michael Lee, ex-senior VP at Ethereum Layer 2 network ZKsync developer, Matter Labs, and a VP of community at Activision Blizzard, Luca Netz, and Lorenzo Melendez. Netz serves as CEO of Pudgy Penguins and Igloo while Melendez is the president of Pudgy Penguins and Igloo and ex-CTO of Pudgy Penguins. 

However, Abstract was developed by popular crypto Twitter icons namely Cygaar, 0xbeans and Stinkypablo. Cygaar, who previously owned the newly acquired Frame.xyz, serves as CTO of Cube Labs, while Lee serves at the CEO of Cube Labs.

About 30 people work at Abstract across the globe, while Cube Labs has a physical office in Miami. Lee hopes to hire more people in areas like engineering, community growth, marketing and business development functions. 

Speaking on Abstract, he said: “Abstract will open up a new world of possibilities for crypto-native developers and global brands — in turn creating the dominant crypto consumer platform. We are at the beginning of a new era where blockchain technology will reinvent the idea of digital ownership and seamlessly integrate into our daily lives, enhancing how we live, work, connect and play.”

Optimistic of their mission at Cube Labs, Cygaar said: “Our mission is to build infrastructure to power the next wave of consumer crypto applications. This requires collaborating on technology that makes crypto UX simpler, building a platform for mass distribution, and working closely with teams looking to build the next generation of consumer-facing experiences. By doing so, we have the potential to truly onboard retail users to crypto for the first time.”

Learn more about Abstract Layer 2 blockchain by visiting their official website.