Ondo Finance raises $10 million in public token sale

Ondo Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) startup that provides structured investment products, has raised $10 million in a public token sale.

Sharing the news exclusively with The Block on Wednesday, Ondo Finance said more than 18,000 people bought its native ONDO token during the sale, which was conducted via CoinList on May 12 and 13 — just days after the implosion of the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST).

Around 2% of ONDO's total supply was offloaded through the sale, Nathan Allman, co-founder and CEO of Ondo Finance, told The Block. The total supply of ONDO is 10 billion. The token's fully diluted valuation currently stands at $525 million, Allman added.

Ondo's public token sale comes two months after the firm raised $20 million in Series A funding co-led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Pantera Capital.

Ondo was founded last year by Allman and Pinku Surana — two former Goldman Sachs employees — to provide structured products built on top of decentralized exchanges.

The products, known as "vaults," offer fixed and variable yields. Depositors in fixed yield vaults receive a fixed percentage of yield over their initial investment. Depositors in variable yield vaults receive all excess returns after the fixed yield vaults receive their payout.

"Like a traditional investment bank, Ondo aims to be a hub matching those who have capital with those who need it through the creation of customized financial products that organizations can offer to investors," said Allman.

With fresh capital injection, Ondo plans to continue building its platform and developing new products. "We are focused on creating structured products that use smart contracts to decompose on-chain income streams from token issuers into tranches with different levels of risk, appealing to risk-averse institutions as well as more risk-tolerant retail," said Allman.

The public token sale brings Ondo's total funding to date to $34 million.