# MilkyWay

Startup profile on Capital Atlas: https://capitalatlas.ai/startups/milkyway-2

- Industry: Financial Services
- Total disclosed funding: $5M
- Latest round: Seed (Apr 30, 2024)
- Investors on record: 5

## About

Founded in 2023, MilkyWay operates as a blockchain company that provides Liquid Staking protocol. In April 2024, the firm raised USD 5 million in seed funding led by investors Polychain Capital and Binance Labs, with participation from other investors Hack VC, Crypto.com Capital, and LongHash Ventures. The firm as of April 2024, has over 150,000 users.

The company’s liquid staking protocol is designed specifically for Celestia's modular ecosystem. MilkyWay through its liquid staking mechanism, users can stake their TIA tokens, contributing to the security of Celestia, and in return, receive milkTIA tokens. These milkTIA tokens not only represent the staked TIA but also accrue in value alongside staking rewards. Additionally, MilkyWay partners with validators from Celestia's validator set, ensuring decentralization and security. Users can stake their TIA tokens with MilkyWay without the need to select specific validators, as the tokens are evenly distributed among all validators.

As for revenue generation, MilkyWay applies a 10% protocol fee on staking rewards.

The company plans to utilize the April 2024 funding to expand, and cover operational expenses, and the additional development of the modular ecosystem. Additionally, MilkyWay, as of May 2024, plans to introduce $MILK as its native token. $MILK holders will receive a portion of the protocol fee and will have governance rights over the protocol's future.

## Funding rounds

- Seed, Apr 30, 2024, $5M — Polychain Capital, Hack VC, YZi Labs, Crypto.com Capital, LongHash Ventures

## Investors

- Polychain Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/polychain-capital) — Seed
- Hack VC (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/hack-vc) — Seed
- YZi Labs (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/yzi-labs) — Seed
- Crypto.com Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/crypto-com-capital) — Seed
- LongHash Ventures (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/longhash-ventures) — Seed