Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund is investing in this NC-based startup

D.C. venture firm Revolution‘s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund is backing North Carolina-based Fluree in its latest investment round. The seed funding round was led by 4490 Ventures and is valued at $4.73 million, a press release states.

Startup @FlureePBC raises $4.7M seed to build blockchain database tools. https://t.co/e0S0vHvzaq via @DanielGKuhn

— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) June 4, 2019

Founded in 2016, Fluree is a startup that provides a blockchain-based data management platform to help companies gain a competitive advantage while saving cost when competing in the data-driven economy. Dan Malven, managing director at 4490 Ventures, said in a statement that the “world is evolving from static apps to platforms to ecosystems, and technology tools have not kept pace.” With Fluree’s platform, users can advance their data security with blockchain cryptography and make their data more readily sharable without the need for API development, which can save money.

“Fluree stores all data on a blockchain ledger that can be run internally like a traditional data store, or selectively operated in a data network across parties governed by Fluree SmartFunction rules,” Flip Filipowski, co-CEO and cofounder of Fluree said in a press release. “Decentralized data ownership like this has never before been possible, and we are excited to witness an entirely new class of applications that emerge from no longer having to blindly trust other parties with critical data.”

The startup will use this funding round to accelerate awareness of its tech on the market and increase its research and development efforts this year. The product is set for a 2019 open source release, coindesk reported, but a free version is currently available for developers along with a licensed version for production deployments.

“We are excited to back this team of seasoned technologists and startup execs who are making a bold bet on the future of data architecture,” Anna Mason, partner at Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, said in a statement. “With Fluree, they are continuing to put Winston-Salem on the map as a startup hub of the future.”

Revolution’s $150 million Rise of the Rest Seed Fund launched in 2017, with a commitment to make $1 million investments in early-stage startups. The fund doesn’t seek to lead funding rounds or provide board members, but to partner with other regional investors on a deal to contribute about 10-20 percent to a startup’s seed funding round.