Startup profile for DeSO: latest funding, latest known valuation, total disclosed funding, investors, status, sources, and why the company is interesting. Part of the Venture Capital Tracker startup directory.
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DeSO funding, valuation and investors

Layer-1 blockchain for decentralized social apps (ex-BitClout).

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Funding, valuation & investors

Answer-first snapshot

Latest funding

Not publicly disclosed

Latest known valuation

Not publicly disclosed

Total disclosed equity funding

Not publicly disclosed

Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.

Current status

private

growth · San Francisco, California

Source links not recorded Last verified: 2026-07-25

Overview

DeSo (Decentralized Social) is a layer-1 blockchain designed for social apps — enabling on-chain profiles, posts, and creator monetization without a centralized platform owning the graph. Raised ~$200M in a September 2021 token sale from Sequoia, a16z, Polychain, Coinbase Ventures, and others. Originally launched as BitClout before rebranding.

Why DeSO is interesting

Token sale raised ~$200M from Sequoia and a16z for decentralized social — testing whether on-chain social graphs can compete with centralized platforms.

Product & use cases

Layer-1 blockchain optimized for social applications — on-chain identity, posts, and creator tokens.

  • Building decentralized social apps on DeSo chain
  • Creator monetization via on-chain tokens
  • Portable social identity across apps

Key facts

  • Token sale (Sep 2021): ~$200M from Sequoia, a16z, Polychain, Coinbase Ventures (DeSo docs)
  • Originally BitClout before rebrand to DeSo

Funding history (newest first)

Token sale

2021-09 ~$200M

Source: https://docs.deso.org

Investors in our directory

Funds linked from DeSO's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.

Andreessen Horowitz Sequoia Capital Blockchange Ventures Multicoin Capital

Competitive landscape

Edge: Purpose-built L1 for social vs. general-purpose chains — but adoption remains niche.

Decentralized social has seen many attempts; Farcaster and Bluesky gained more recent developer traction than DeSo. On-chain social still struggles with UX and regulatory uncertainty.

  • Farcaster direct

    Decentralized social protocol with more 2024-2026 traction.

  • Lens Protocol direct

    Social graph on Polygon.

  • Twitter/X incumbent

    Centralized social at massive scale.

  • Bluesky adjacent

    Decentralized protocol backed by Jack Dorsey.

Notable stories

  • DeSo launched as BitClout in 2021 — controversial for auto-creating profiles of celebrities before rebranding to DeSo (CoinDesk).

Industries

Crypto & Web3 Consumer

Related funding articles

Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover DeSO's financing or category context.

FAQs about DeSO

Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.

Layer-1 blockchain for decentralized social apps with on-chain profiles and creator monetization.
Sequoia (/fund/sequoia), a16z (/fund/andreessen-horowitz), Multicoin (/fund/multicoin-capital), Blockchange (/fund/blockchange-ventures) among token sale participants.
DeSo's original name before rebrand in 2021.
Both decentralized social; Farcaster gained more recent developer traction.
September 2021 token sale — ~$200M.
DeSo Foundation supports the open-source protocol; DESO token trades on exchanges.
Protocol economics via DESO token — not traditional company profitability.
San Francisco area.
DESO token is publicly traded; foundation is not a public company.
Portable identity and creator ownership vs. platform lock-in — adoption remains challenging.
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By Venture Capital Tracker

Last updated:

Editorial note: AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.