On November 8, Tempo, a Stripe-backed blockchain startup, made its first major investment by spearheading a $25 million funding round for Commonware, a company that provides crypto infrastructure. 

According to Tempo, spearheading a $25 million strategic investment round in Commonware will further its common goal of providing dependable, high-performance infrastructure for all builders.

Tempo invests in Commonware to accelerate payments

Tempo stated that the investment will enable it to concentrate on delivering essential payment services and streamlining Tempo rather than reimagining the consensus wheel. The startup will also be able to deliver blockchain payment products and updates more quickly as a result.

In a blog post, Tempo stated that Commonware will enable it to reach finality in under 250 milliseconds on a globally distributed, permissionless payment system. The startup also stated that several advancements in networking, cryptography, and consensus will enable worldwide distributed payment systems.

Paradigm general partner and CTO Georgios Konstantopoulos stated that Tempo will accelerate the development of the Commonware Library by putting its dependability and performance to the test in real-world scenarios.

Commonware’s founder, Patrick O’Grady, declined to disclose the identities of other participants in the fundraising for his company, which creates open-source code that enables people to start their own blockchains. 

O’Grady also declined to provide his company’s valuation after the Tempo-led investment. Still, he said it was a “significant increase” over Commonware’s seed round valuation, which Pitchbook estimates was $63 million.

“Usage and distribution is way more important than money as a startup.If we can short circuit that process and have a deep relationship, multi-year relationship, with a great team, instead of raising maybe a traditional round from a venture fund, that was the opportunity that Tempo presented.”

– Patrick O’Grady, Commonware’s founder.

Tempo’s investment in Commonware is not its first bold step since Stripe and Paradigm formally announced the collaboration in September. In the same month, the payments-focused blockchain business hired Dankrad Feist, a well-known researcher who helped design the ETH blockchain. The startup also purchased the cryptocurrency firm Ithaca.

Additionally, Tempo currently employs between 40 and 50 people, up from about five in August, according to a person familiar with the company.

O’Glady stated he believes Tempo will do just as good a job as showcasing what Commonware can do, rather than his own team could. He claimed that despite Commonware having just four clients and seven workers (including O’Grady) since its founding in 2024, Commonware is already profitable.

According to O’Glady, Commonware earns money by assisting businesses with the deployment and interface of their open-source software. He added that, on average, each client generates more than €0.85 million annually.

Stripe and Paradigm launch ambitious crypto venture

On October 17, the Stripe-affiliated startup raised $500 million at a $5 billion valuation from some of Silicon Valley’s leading venture capital firms, including Thrive Capital, Greenoaks, Sequoia, and Ribbit Capital.

Tempo is just the recent cryptocurrency venture from Stripe. In February, the payments company signed a $1.1 billion deal to buy the stablecoin startup Bridge. Additionally, Stripe announced in June that it planned to pay an unknown amount to acquire the cryptocurrency wallet startup Privy.

Stripe has already begun launching several new stablecoin-related products, including Open Issuance, which enables Stripe users to create their own stablecoins.

Bridge cofounder and CEO Zach Abrams stated that his Stripe-owned firm had applied for a national bank trust charter. The application was to comply with the recently enacted GENIUS Act, which creates legal safeguards for stablecoin issuers.

However, in September, Paradigm revealed that Tempo is Stripe’s most ambitious initiative, aiming to rival well-known blockchains that handle stablecoin transactions, like ETH and Solana. 

Stripe and Paradigm collaborated to launch the project, and Tempo is being led by Matt Huang, managing partner of Paradigm and a member of Stripe’s board of directors.

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