Sam Altman’s biometric startup World raises $52.5 million via crypto sale

World, the online verification startup co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, has raised $52.5 million through a crypto token sale to strategic investors.

Participating investors joined a 12-month lockup sale of World’s token, WLD. Lockup periods prevent asset buyers from selling or trading their tokens for a set period of time. The year-long lockup demonstrates investors’ “long-term commitment to World’s continued growth and utility,” the company said Friday in a press release.

The money will go to the World Foundation, an exempted limited guarantee foundation based in the Cayman Islands, created to steward the expansion of World’s network.

The sale’s lead buyer is Pantera Capital, a venture capital firm focused on digital assets. Other companies involved in the sale included Eightco Holdings, Bain Capital Crypto, Susquehanna Crypto, and Selini Capital, among others.

The World project is operated by Tools for Humanity, a startup based in San Francisco and led by CEO and co-founder Alex Blania. Altman is the company’s other co-founder.

World is an unusual business that revolves around online verification and sells access to what it calls “proof of human” tools. The idea is that, as bots and AI generate much of the content online, it will become increasingly important to know who is really human and who isn’t. World’s mission is to popularize its World ID, an anonymous digital marker that verifies whether a human — not a bot or an AI agent — is behind a particular account.

To get a verified World ID (the highest level of verification within World’s system), users must have their eyes scanned by an Orb, a metallic ball that converts a user’s iris into a distinct cryptographic identifier. World’s Orbs are located at its offices and have also been deployed at partner stores around the world.

The project began as a more overtly crypto-based experiment under the name “Worldcoin” — the same name of the crypto asset involved in the recent sale. Users can trade or hold the token through World’s app, which also serves as a custodial wallet. The company later rebranded to World amidst a broader backlash against the crypto industry.

In April, the project launched a new version of its app, and announced partnerships with companies, including Tinder and Ticketmaster. Yet, despite its global ambitions, World has struggled to scale its business or convince consumers to care much about its mission. In June, TFH conducted a round of layoffs.