GetGems (previously known simply as Gems), a messenger app with Bitcoin integration and its own crypto-token, has added $400,000 USD to the money it already raised in its crowdsale, after striking a deal with venture capital firm Magma VC.
The additional finance will bring the total funding raised by Israeli firm ‘Decentralized Mobile Applications Ltd’, after a successful crowdsale brought in $600,000 USD from the sale of Gemz, a crypto-token issued on the Bitcoin block chain via the Counterparty protocol. The Gemz token will be the sole method of payment for opt-in advertising through the app, and will be earned by users for referring other users and for agreeing to view sponsors messages.
The GetGems app will aim to provide instant messaging and social networking features, whilst also providing a simple and convenient way for people to start using Bitcoin. A preliminary version of the app which offers encrypted messaging is already available for Android users via the Google Play Store. An iOS version of the app is expected over the coming months, followed by a second version with Bitcoin wallet integration.
The Magma VC investment was made directly in return for equity in the company, rather than in the tokens offered for public sale, but the firm hope that its involvement will still be seen as a positive development by smaller investors: “We hope our investment as a well-known venture capital firm would also increase the Bitcoin community as well as general public’s trust in GetGems as a platform and therefore its cryptocurrency will have an increasing value,” said general partner Ran Achituv.
