Icebreaker — the on-chain alternative to LinkedIn — has amassed $5 million in seed funding. The round was led by CoinFund, with participation from Accomplice, Anagram, Legion Capital, and more than 30 founder angels.
The funds raised will be used to scale the internet's “open and verifiable” professional network.
AI and fake personas have taken over the digital world lately. To steer away from the noise, Icebreaker was put to sea.
The platform intends to help professionals tap their existing profiles and networks to “surface exceptional people and opportunities.” This will be done on the backend using cryptographically verifiable identities.
Early iterations of the platform have been piloted via engagements with companies like Coinbase, OpenSea, and Polygon Labs.
Icebreaker’s co-founder, Dan Stone, co-pioneered Google's largest cross-identity measurement and marketing platform. Commenting on the latest development, he asserted that “the world runs on trust,” and added,
“Until now, it's been impossible to see because our existing networks optimize for engagement over signal. Yet every leader knows the loudest or most followed person is rarely the best. Icebreaker lets you see who your close network trusts so you can cut through the noise to surface the talent and opportunities that are quiet, yet exceptional."
Users can create curated profiles on Icebreaker by logging in via their email, Farcaster, or Ethereum Wallet.
Similar to LinkedIn, they can customize their networking status, skills, work experience, professional highlights, and verified credentials. Current and former colleagues can endorse each other.
In early 2021, Stone met Icebreaker's other Co-Founder Jack Dillé — who was the UX leader at YouTube and Google Shopping at that time — via an NFT Forum. A few months down the line, both bid adieu to Google to work full-time in crypto. While the former joined Coinbase, the latter flocked to SZNS. In early 2023 they called it quits and founded Icebreaker.
Every user can search the entirety of their network “for free, forever” on Icebreaker. Dillé emphasized that seeing people take full control and ownership of their network “is really magical," and added,
“Existing platforms make it intentionally difficult to build and use our own connections, and often require us to pay just to navigate our own network. We have a core belief that data should be completely user-controlled, where people decide exactly what and how much they want to share with their connections, with no third-party intervention."
