Web3 startup Terminal 3 completes $8 million seed round, with Animoca Brands and others participating

HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Terminal 3, a Hong Kong-based Web3 startup, has successfully closed an $8 million seed round. The investment will be used to develop a new data privacy and security protocol, which will be released later this year, and accelerate the adoption of the company’s decentralized identity and credentials platform in enterprises. Terminal 3 currently serves nearly 8 million users across multiple blockchains and industries.

The round was co-led by Illuminate Financial and CMCC Titan Fund, with participation from Animoca Brands, Progression Fund, IDG Blockchain, and Cherubic Ventures. Existing investors 500 Global, Consensys Mesh, Hard Yaka, and BlackPine also participated in the round.

“The demand for user data is growing exponentially, which increases the privacy risks of billions of people,” said co-founder and CEO Guorui Liu. “At the same time, evolving data regulations and security requirements place a significant compliance burden and cost on businesses, impacting the user experience and limiting the adoption of emerging technologies such as AI. Our new funding will fuel the growth of Terminal 3’s enterprise solutions, enabling businesses to take advantage of new technology developments while protecting users and reducing costs.”

Terminal 3 leverages blockchain and privacy-enhancing technologies such as zero-knowledge encryption to enable secure autonomous storage of user data and provide fully private access to a range of applications, from banking to government credentials, social media and marketing. In recent weeks, Terminal 3 also announced the launch of an identity verification and authorization platform for AI agents, providing trust, security and privacy for autonomous transactions.

Luca Zorzino, General Partner and Head of Asia at Illuminate Financial, said: "We are at a critical inflection point for digital assets and decentralized technologies in global financial markets. The key to unlocking these massive opportunities lies in secure data and identity, and we believe Terminal 3's innovative solutions will accelerate institutional adoption of both technologies while ushering in a new era of digital trust. Illuminate is excited to invest in this mission."

Terminal 3 was co-founded by Gary Liu, Chief Product Officer Malcolm Ong, and Chief Operating Officer Joey Liu, all of whom have extensive experience at world-class technology companies such as Google, Spotify, Microsoft, and Uber. Most recently, the trio led the digital transformation of Hong Kong's century-old newspaper, the South China Morning Post, where Gary served as CEO from 2016 to 2022. Over the past three years, the three co-founders have led the development of the Terminal 3 platform while driving policy for digital assets and open data applications in Asia and the Middle East.

"Terminal 3 is one of the first investments of our fund," said Xiao Xinyan, Co-founder and Managing Partner of China Mobile Titan Fund. “The growth of the digital asset industry depends on verifiable identity solutions that will address and integrate regulatory compliance, interoperability, and trust issues for all industry participants. We believe the complementary experience, expertise, and vision of the co-founders are unique in the Web3 space and have led to the company’s early growth and future potential. Titan Fund is excited to continue working with these outstanding industry leaders.”