Quick take:
A16z Crypto and Blockchain Capital co-led the round.
Merit Systems’ new protocol seeks to create an economic model that rewards developers proportionate to their contributions.
Its founders Sam Ragsdale and Mason Hall previously worked with A16z’s investment teams while Ryan Sproule was at Blockchain Capital.
Merit Systems has raised $10 million in a seed round co-led by A16z Crypto and Blockchain Capital. The fundraising was completed at a post-money valuation of $55.5 million, The Block reported.
Merit is developing an attribution protocol for open-source projects that reward developers based on their contributions. The company aims to create a more sustainable economic model where contributors are rewarded proportionate to the value they add to a project, with the idea of reducing dependency on volunteer contributions or corporate backing.
“Merit adds rich attribution information to software version control systems like GitHub. It allows capital sources to route funds to codebases and incentivize builders directly,” the company said.
The company leadership hails from the main backers with Sam Ragsdale and Mason Hall having previously worked with A16z’s investment teams while Ryan Sproule was at Blockchain Capital.
According to a statement on Merit’s website, its attribution protocol allows capital sources to route funds to codebases, incentivizing builders directly.
Merit believes amid the advances being made in AI, “human ingenuity, properly aligned and incentivized, is civilization’s most precious resource.”
The company says its system is designed for this future. “We’re building a system where builders truly own what they build. Where attribution and ownership are enshrined by default, rewarding each contributor in proportion to their merit. We’re refining the factory for innovation, creating a system to focus the world’s best minds towards humanity’s biggest challenges.”
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