The decentralized social network Bluesky has publicly disclosed its $100 million Series B funding round, which was completed in April 2025 but announced only now. Led by Bain Capital Crypto, the round drew participation from investors including Alumni Ventures, Anthos Capital, Bloomberg Beta, True Ventures, and the Knight Foundation. This substantial backing follows a $15 million Series A round from October 2024 and coincides with important leadership developments at the company.
Bluesky originated from an internal exploration at Twitter starting in 2019 and evolved into an independent public benefit corporation in 2021.
Its foundation is the AT Protocol, an open standard that enables users to own and port their identities, content, and social graphs across various applications.
This design promotes a competitive ecosystem where developers can build innovative services on a shared, transparent data layer, offering users greater control over their online experiences compared to closed, corporate-dominated platforms.
The platform has experienced growth, reaching more than 43 million users.
A thriving developer scene has produced over 1,000 apps, with hundreds of thousands of monthly software development kit downloads and billions of public records, demonstrating the protocol’s appeal for fostering diverse digital interactions.
A key participant in the round, the Knight Foundation, chose to invest because it views Bluesky as advancing an open social infrastructure aligned with democratic values.
The foundation believes that shifting from proprietary systems to open protocols can better protect free expression by placing authority in the hands of users and communities rather than a few large companies.
It also sees potential for creators and publishers to establish direct audience relationships and sustainable revenue options beyond algorithmic dependencies.
Furthermore, the transparent setup supports independent research on information ecosystems, helping address challenges such as the erosion of local journalism, manipulative algorithms, and declining trust in public facts.
As emphasized in the foundation’s explanation, caring about free speech requires attention to the architectures that enable it in the digital economy.
This investment supports the foundation’s mission to strengthen journalism, civic life, and an informed public through technology that serves the common good.
Timing the announcement with a leadership transition, founder Jay Graber has assumed the role of Chief Innovation Officer to drive ongoing protocol development.
Toni Schneider from True Ventures has taken over as interim CEO to guide operational growth.
The new funds will support scaling the platform, expanding the team, and realizing a protocol-based social web that prioritizes user agency and innovation without compromising core values. In an era of increasing concerns about centralized social media’s societal impacts, Bluesky‘s progress seemingly represents a promising path toward more equitable and open digital spaces.