Blum raises $5M in Pre-Seed and Seed Funding, plans to expand to Multichain, and Unveils AI-powered Memepad
Blum, the innovative on-chain trading app serving more than 90 million users, has secured $5 million in pre-seed and seed funding. Alongside the funding announcement, Blum will host a live stream on X with its backers this Thursday to discuss the investment details and explore the latest trends in Web3.
Strong Backers
This funding round, led by gumi Cryptos Capital with participation from prominent investors Spartan and No Limit Holdings, saw continued support from YZi Labs and Top.co — key backers in the pre-seed round. They are joined by additional investors in the seed round, including OKX Ventures, Bitscale Capital, Wintermute and angel investors
“This funding marks a significant milestone for Blum as it will fuel the development of our trading features. We are profoundly grateful to our partners and early supporters for their confidence in our vision,” said Gleb Kostarev, CEO and Co-Founder of Blum. “From day one, Blum has captured the attention of both investors and users. Our funding approach was not merely about securing capital; it was about carefully selecting partners whose expertise and resources can amplify the user experience".
Blum’s Key Achievements and Vision
Founded in April 2024 by former Binance executives Gleb Kostarev and Vladimir Smerkis, Blum officially launched on July 15, 2024. Initially backed by YZi Labs and TOP.co, Blum has already achieved significant milestones:
– Highest On-Chain Activity: Blum was named the winner of the 6th Season of The Open League, achieving the highest on-chain user activity with 2.2 million unique wallets.
– 32M User Telegram Presence: Blum’s Telegram channel is now the second largest globally, boasting 32 million members
– #1 Memepad on TON: Blum Memepad leads the TON blockchain and ranks second globally (based on daily transaction data), with a $200 million trading volume, 200,000 tokens created, and 380 tokens listed on DEXs.
– Accelerating Blockchain Projects: Blum Labs, the platform’s acceleration arm, has already delivered impressive results, accelerating 20 projects, including PAWS, Gameness, Nutscoin, DUDE, Smartest, Horizontal Labs (Unstoppable Wallet), and Captain Tsubasa RIVALS.
Blum's Developments in 2025
At the end of last year, Blum unveiled an updated roadmap, highlighting key developments for 2025. Since then, the Blum team has already made significant strides, rolling out major new features:
– Trading Bot Expansion: Now available to everyone, Blum’s trading bot has surpassed 1 million users, making it the largest trading bot on Telegram.
– Live Streaming on Blum Memepad: The feature is now live, with the longest stream lasting an impressive 124 hours.
– Meme Points Expansion: Since Season 2, users have been earning meme points for their Memepad activity—now, they can also earn them through the trading bot.
– Weekly Rewards for Season 1 Users: Each week, 450 randomly selected Season 1 users receive rewards based on their activity. Details here.
– Going Multichain: by expanding our product to Blum.io website and other platforms, while the Telegram mini-app will continue to focus on supporting the TON blockchain.
Vlad Smerkis, CMO & Co-Founder of Blum:
“Our mission is to create the ultimate trading app, designed with traders and the community at its core. We’re taking a deliberate approach, rolling out features step by step to ensure they’re done right. From a powerful multichain trading bot to a AI-driven Memepad and futures trading, we’re building a platform that offers everything a trader needs and beyond. With strong backing from leading investors and players, we’re confident that this process will accelerate significantly”
Investor Insights on Blum’s Features
gumi Cryptos Capital, known for early-stage investments in projects such as OpenSea, Yield Guild Gaming, and 1inch Network, shared its confidence in Blum’s trajectory:
“Blum’s meteoric rise is nothing short of extraordinary, firmly positioning it as a trailblazer in Web3 innovation,” said Evans Huangfu, Partner at gumi Cryptos Capital. “ Blum has set a new benchmark for engagement and utility in the blockchain space. Its strategic evolution from tap-to-earn to trade-to-earn showcases a visionary approach to converting a massive audience into active trading users. We’re particularly impressed by Blum’s profitability achieved just two months after its inception and are proud to support its vision.”
Jeff Ren, Partner at OKX Ventures, emphasized Blum’s growing community and future collaboration: “We are delighted to invest in Blum and will establish a partnership with Blum through OKX Connect to jointly attract more users. This investment reflects our ongoing commitment to promoting the development of the TON ecosystem.”
Kelvin Koh, Co-founder & Partner at Spartan Capital, highlighted Blum’s strategic position in the TON ecosystem: “With no clear go-to DEX in the TON ecosystem and the team's proven track record, we believe Blum is well-positioned to fill that gap and establish themselves as a central player in the space .”
Gin Chao, Founding Partner at No Limit Holdings and Board Member at Binance US, praised the team’s execution capabilities: “NLH has first-hand experience with the Blum team’s ability to meet and exceed aggressive execution targets and timelines. Their proven track record as operators within the most successful organization in the industry truly sets them apart. We’re proud to support Gleb and his team’s vision to become a go-to destination for all crypto users.”
Andrey Klebanov, Managing Partner at The Open Platform (TOP), remarked on Blum’s role in driving Web3 innovation: “Blum has quickly established itself as a key player within TON ecosystem, demonstrating the platform’s potential to drive innovation and adoption. We look forward to seeing how Blum continues to evolve and contribute to the growth of decentralized trading.”
Zurab Kazhiloti, Founding partner at Bitscale Capital, commented: “I was honored to know Gleb and the rest of the team way before Blum was founded. Gleb and team always demonstrate highest ethics and morale in running business alongside with incredible performance in shipping and delivering products fast which is a very rare and valuable combination. We are proud to be a part of this journey and support Blum in their vision and go to market strategy”.
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About
Blum
Blum is a decentralised trading app, offering access to tokens from centralised and decentralised exchanges, along with simplified derivatives trading, all within a Telegram mini app.
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gumi Cryptos Capital
gumi Cryptos Capital (gCC) is a Silicon Valley, builder-centric, long time preference, high conviction, early-stage crypto-native venture capital firm. gCC deployed its $21M fund I into the “crypto winter” of 2018 to back founders at the earliest stages such as OpenSea, Yield Guild Gaming, 1inch Network, Agoric, LIT protocol and Astar. On the strength of fund I gCC raised a $110M fund II and continues to back world-class founders and entrepreneurs who are building the foundational layers of web3 or who use blockchain technology to gain significant competitive advantage.
For more information, please visit https://www.gumi-cryptos.com
