IQ Protocol Secures $12M in Investment Round

Fundraising Led by Crypto.Com Capital will Revolutionize NFT Markets

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IQ Protocol

6 min readMar 3, 2022

We at IQ Labs are happy to announce that our fundraising round — which was led by Crypto.com Capital — has successfully secured upwards of $12m for IQ Protocol! Alongside Crypto.com Capital were a host of (over 30) other blue-chip investors, including Republic Capital, Kronos Research, Genblock Capital, Axia8, GSR, Genesis Block Ventures, MEXC Global, Argo Labs, Cryptology AG, and many others.

At the basis of IQ Protocol’s platform is the ability to create wrapped, expirable versions of digital assets (both fungible and non-fungible), which can be used as the basis for a variety of solutions, from staking and tokenomics models, to lending and renting NFTs, and beyond.

About this technology, Bobby Bao (Managing Director of Crypto.com Capital) had to say:

IQ Protocol’s wrapped expirable versions of digital assets are an innovative solution that enables collateral-less utility loans. We’re proud to co-lead IQ Protocol’s latest fundraising round and help pioneer new products alongside them.

We’ve been absolutely blown away by the support for IQ Protocol and excitement that’s been generated by the impending launch of $IQT. So, we’re happy to report that, over the last few months, all the pieces have truly begun to fall into place.

In the last several months alone, we have…

Garnered attention and working relationships with some outstanding blockchain projects, like PARSIQ, TomoChain, Mogul Productions, Autonio, Mysterium, Radom Network, Sator, GEMS, DeNet, and SolDrinks (with many more to come!).
Secured partnerships with next-level GameFi projects, including Nyan Heroes, Chain Myth, Battle Saga, Solcery, Space Sip, Zone of Avoidance, Spark Era, Bitspawn, and others lined up to join!
And have now been overwhelmed by the success of our fundraising round.

We are proud to share with you details of our fundraising round today. We’ll also provide some context as to why so many investors and projects are eager to support and work alongside IQ Protocol.

Risk-free, Collateral-less Digital Asset Renting

Created by the team at PARSIQ, IQ Protocol began as a way of creating a harmony between the interests of token holders with those of utility users — essentially, it was envisioned as a way of solving the “token not needed” problem faced by so many tokenized blockchain companies. And indeed, it has done this well!

However, in solving this problem, we recognized that IQ Protocol had far more revolutionary potential than remaining a tool in PARSIQ’s belt. Instead, what we introduced was not only the world’s first decentralized SaaS, but also DeFi’s first blockchain-agnostic framework for lending and renting NFTs (or any other digital asset) — and even more than this, it requires no collateral and involves no risk!

Reflecting on the power of IQ Protocol, Brian Johnson (Head of Crypto Strategy at Republic Capital) remarked:

IQ Protocol is a game changer for digital asset space by creating a subscription and ‘rent-to-own’ model to NFTs. At Republic Capital, we are very excited for what this means for the ecosystem.

We believe — like our investors — that the future of digital asset renting will become as complex as the real world counterpart. Whether it be in the realm of gaming, music, software, or other services, we are thrilled to be at the forefront of this wide-open economy.

Multi-Faceted Use Cases

Why has there been so much hype around IQ Protocol?

Good question!

The simplest answer is found in the versatility of IQ Protocol, the multiplicity of ways its technology can be applied. For example, it is easy to imagine ways it can help usher in wide-scale adoption of Web3 systems, as well as facilitate the smooth transition of numerous industries into the world of decentralization. Whether one is talking about fitness, travel, food delivery, cell network providers, or music, IQ Protocol offers a novel use case to help advance a company or enterprise.

Already, IQ Protocol has been helping breathe new life into the inner workings of Web3 projects. For example, it has been utilized to implement circular economies and non-inflationary tokenomic models to platforms like PARSIQ, Mysterium, and Autonio (with more to come). IQ Protocol has also been adopted by numerous blockchain-based gaming companies as well.

Just as with the economies it provides blockchain platforms, IQ Protocol is set to radically transform the landscape of Web3 gaming, not limiting players to simply buying or selling their in-game items. Thanks to our model of risk-free asset lending, players will be afforded a chance to utilize elements of the game that they may otherwise not have access to, not want to purchase flat out, or be unable to afford. This also adds more depth to the game, as players’ tactics and strategies will expand alongside the world of NFTs that will now be available to them.

Impressed by the wide range of use cases made possible by IQ Protocol, David Cai (Co-Head of Kronos Ambrosia Fund) said:

IQ Protocol offers a unique way for the lending and borrowing of NFTs in a decentralized and permissionless manner. We see many use cases in the financial and gaming NFT space, and we are excited to help support IQ Protocol on its future endeavors.

Clearly, IQ Protocol represents a broad horizon of possibilities. In fact, because of the uniqueness of the platform, we are constantly uncovering new possible uses for what we’ve built!

“Thank you!”, for all the support!

List of institutional investors: Crypto.com Capital, Republic Capital, Kronos Research, GSR, Axia8 Ventures, Wave7, Double Peak Group, Petrock Capital, LVT Capital, One Block Capital, Wealth Union, Solar Eco Fund, Genblock Capital, Argo Labs, Warpspeed Capital, Alpha Crypto Group, ZBS Capital, Cryptology AG, Mission Ventures, Influence Capital, AU21 Capital, NGC, GBV, FBG, Digital Strategies, Contango Digital Assets, Criterion VC, Cipholio, MEXC Global, 7 oClock Capital, Pluto Digital, Starlaunch, Oddiyana Ventures, Vespertine Capital, M77 Ventures, LuaVentures, Parachain Ventures, Perridon Holdings, Parastate Labs, DAO Capital, CryptoRoundTable, Rainmaker Games, Chainmyth, Firework Games, DefiYieldApp, Solarpunk Ventures, DAOSquare, BreederDAO, Play-It-Forward, Unix Gaming, Panony, and Cryptomeria Capital.

List of angel investors: Mike Zajko (Coinlist), Richmond Teo (PAXOS founder), Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon founder), Rahul Dalmia, Sarutobi Sasuke (Yield Guild Games), Waleed Rassuli (Tezos), Priyanka Gill (Good Glamm Group founder), Heslin Kim (SupraOracles founder), Yuen Wong (Labs Group founder), and Bekar Goletiani (Red Bull).

We are incredibly thankful for all the support we have received. Upon closing our fundraising round Tom Tirman (CEO of IQ Labs) stated:

We’re delighted at the tremendous response IQ Protocol has received. We were extremely fortunate to be highly oversubscribed, and therefore able to select long-term strategic partnerships to best position us for success.
We stand to gain significant benefit from the depth and diversity of experience which encompass exchanges, launchpads, guilds, blockchains, and TradFi, which will bring great synergy to the IQ Protocol roadmap.

So, we’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank our backers, and we look forward to an exciting journey ahead.

As we continue to build out all the promises of IQ Protocol, we are also preparing for the launch of the $IQT token.

While the date of the token launch has yet to be fixed, we are currently offering information about the white list for the public sale, early opportunities to earn free $IQT, and are continuing to announce our partnerships with other promising projects.

It is certainly an exciting time to be a part of IQ Protocol and our community. Stay connected with us on social media!

About IQ Protocol

IQ Protocol is a decentralized money market for digital asset renting and on-chain subscriptions. The next money lego that allows users to rent wrapped expirable versions of digital assets without collateral for their utility, while allowing holders to earn by providing liquidity without risk.