New browser Brave receives $4.5 million in funding to eliminate ads with Bitcoin

Brave, an ad-blocking browser that lets users use bitcoin micropayments in exchange for an ad-free experience, has raised $4.5 million in funding.

When the first version of the Brave browser software was unveiled earlier this year, members of the media signed an open letter asking Brave to stop developing the software. Some of the world's largest publishers signed the letter, saying that Brave's blocking of their advertising revenue was "blatantly illegal."

Since then, Brave’s founders have explained to these news media that Brave is not intended to prevent data mining of Internet users, but to give media organizations a way to recover some of their revenue from those who have blocked advertising.

In a conversation with CoinDesk, Brave founder and CEO Brendan Eich said he intends to expand the company’s headcount from its current 10 to 20 employees and continue to help bridge the gap between content creators and users.

"We want to make it a win-win for both users and publishers," Ek said. "We put users first, but we also want publishers to be able to get rid of the troubles of traditional ad blocking and get better revenue."

It is reported that investors participating in this round of financing include Digital Currency Group (DGC), Foundation Capital, Pantera Capital, Propel Venture Partners and Founders Fund's FF Angel.

The San Francisco company has raised $7 million to date and plans to add new features to the platform and hire more employees.

Value Proposition

Dan Morehead, CEO of Pantera Capital, which invested $1 million in the latest funding round, told CoinDesk that bridging the gap between content creators and consumers is what “resonates” with Pantera Capital.

Morehead mentioned the history of browsers, including Netscape and Internet Explorer (IE) browsers, which were disrupted by various innovative services on the market. Now, he believes that Brave fills a gap in the market.

Brave’s innovation lies in a business model that allows users to protect their identities while giving media companies a way to generate revenue.

“Right now, you have these two extremes. The annoying ads and subscription model, and the annoying ad blocking model,” Morehead said. “Brave is kind of in the middle between the crazy ad system and the ad blocking model.”

Bitcoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin

Brave currently partners with wallet providers BitGo and Coinbase to provide bitcoin wallets and purchasing tools, and Ek said he hopes the company will work with wallet provider Blockchain.info in the future.

But he also added that Brave has no plans to support Ethereum or its new cousin Ethereum Classic.

“We just stick with Bitcoin because what we need is frictionless money,” he said.

“We’re still excited about using Bitcoin,” he concluded.

Looking ahead, Ek said one of Brave’s top priorities will be to design its identity protection services to prevent users’ identities from being leaked.

Brave provides iOS, Android and multiple desktop platform versions of the application (download address: https://brave.com/downloads.html). Currently available is a developer version, and the company plans to release its 1.0 version in September 2016.